Evil Dead 4: to Hell and Back
by TheMastercLenz
Summary: My idea of how an Evil Dead sequel could work twenty years after Army of Darkness. After two decades of trying to lead a normal life, Ash must try to stop the forces summoned by the Necronomicon once again.
1. Chapter 1

Dylan pinned his cell phone against his shoulder with his pockmarked face, trying to shake fringes of blonde hair out of his eyes, and deftly rolled the small paper tube between his fingers. "Are you gonna be OK working with Hole tonight?" he asked.

"That's Mr. Hole to you," the female voice on the other end teased. "And I'll be fine."

Adjusting for the small amount of space in the passenger seat of the car, Dylan shifted. "You sure? That old bastard practically lives at Filmore's."

"Is that so?" she answered in a way that made Dylan picture her sly smile. "So, how do you know he's always at a strip club, hmmm?"

Dylan brought the joint he was working on to his lips. His tongue flicked out, quickly wetting the adhesive strip. "I can come by and visit on your break if you want," he offered.

"You're just using me as an excuse not to be around Gramber, aren't you?"

"Maybe," Dylan replied with a snort.

"I wish I could be there," she lamented. "Have fun and I'll see you later tonight."

Dylan heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright, babe. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Wedging the joint between his lips and letting the phone slide to his lap, Dylan searched his pockets. "Shit," he cursed softly, turning to the owner of the car sitting in the driver seat, Graham. "You got a light?"

"Always," Graham responded, bringing what appeared to be a small revolver up to the joint. The already tiny lighter seemed even smaller in his huge, dark hand. He pulled the trigger and a blue flame shot out. As Dylan took the first hit, he asked, "Who's Hole?"

"That's Mr. Hole to you," Dylan replied around the joint. "He's the dick who fired me for coming in after finishing a roach." His words were marked by thin smoke as he held the joint out to Graham.

Graham took the offering readily. "Maybe your real problem is that you can't handle this shit, pussy." Proving his point, Graham took a long draw, letting the glowing ring at the end of the joint burn an extended trail of ash inwards.

"Whatever man," Dylan shook his head. "What time is it?"

Graham checked his watch. "Oh shit!" Stubbing the joint out, he rushed out of the car into the parking lot of Absinthe, Dylan following. Seconds later, they were at the table already staked out by Amber and Jared.

"You made it!" Amber said, standing to greet Graham. He practically slammed into her, pulling her close and embracing her in a deep kiss. His hands ran through her short, dyed-black hair, and the dozens of bracelets around her wrists clanged as she wrapped her arms around him. For a few moments the only sound from them was wet smacks.

Jared and Dylan rolled their eyes. "So, where's Ash?" Jared asked, turning to Dylan.

"Working."

"This late?"

"Inventory."

"Ah," Jared nodded and took a deep drink of his beer.

Finally breaking away from Amber to pour a pint from the pitcher of beer on the table, Graham said, "Of course I made it, I'm performing."

"And what are you gonna say about your new song?" Amber prodded.

Graham tilted his head back all the way and drained his drink in three gulps. "I'm not gonna say anything," he said with a gasp as he pounded the glass onto the table. "This is about letting the songs do the talking. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Graham grabbed Amber again, drawing her in for another short make-out before spinning and striding towards the stage.

"Wimp," Amber said, watching him leave. "He's too embarrassed to say his girlfriend helped him write a song."

"You don't know anything about music," Jared said, furrowing his brow as he adjusted his glasses.

"I wrote the lyrics."

Jared raised an eyebrow. "You didn't use your old poetry from high school, did you?"

"No," Amber shot back defensively. "God, do big brothers ever let you live anything down? No, I got the words from these scans my supervisor had me translate even though it would take him a few minutes to just look up the translations, because what else are grad students for, right?"

"So Graham's new song is like, some thousand year old chant?" Dylan asked. "Cool."

"It gets better." Amber leaned forward, lowering her voice to force Jared and Dylan to do the same to hear her over the din in the bar. "I never saw the real pages, just the scans, but the book they're from? It's all made from human flesh and written in blood."

"Damn," Dylan nodded his approval. "That's fuckin' metal."

Across the bar, a man dwarfed by the rest of the crowd held a microphone close to his mouth, but not too close. After all, there was no point to a live broadcast if the listeners couldn't tell from the roar of the crowd that it was live. "And now," he announced, "Our last band for the night, Violent Sects!"

A crash of cymbals followed by the rapid-fire beat of double-kicked bass drums immediately drowned out the deafening crowd. Seconds later, a screaming, high-speed melody was being tapped out on a guitar, while a tuned-down base grounded the rhythm.

The crush of people surrounding the stage heaved and pushed forward in time to the music, swelling and crashing against the walls and tables like waves breaking against the shore during a storm. At the centre of the noise, Graham smirked at the near violence in front of him. He grabbed the microphone in front of him, yanking it towards his face and flinging the stand to the floor of the stage.

"Demontos!" he bellowed from the depths of his lungs in a death growl. The audience responded, roaring loud enough to once again be heard over the music. "Kandar nostrata demontos!"

"Who did you say wrote that book again?" Jared called across the table to Amber.

"Legend calls them the Dark Ones!" she yelled back, barely audible over the music. "The language is Kandarian though!"

"What?" Jared shouted.

"Ires nosferatus!" Graham's deep scream cut across their conversation. "Kandar!"

The guitarist whipped into his solo, his fingers a blur as he plucked out a staccato tune with his left hand. The drummer kept up, pounding syncopated rhythms along with him, as Graham took a long pull from a hip flask he'd carried to the stage in his pocket. A few members of the audience screamed approval, and finished their drinks at the same time.

"Kandar!" Graham roared as the guitar returned to its original rhythm. "Demontos Kandar! Kandar!"

Graham stretched the last syllable of his growl, holding it for a moment after the guitar, drums and bass had all gone silent. After his scream was cut off, the audience replied with a deafening scream back. Graham turned to look at his band mates. "Guess that means they like us," he grinned.

"Alright!" the radio announcer enthused, climbing up onto the stage. "That was Violent Sects with… What was that song called?" He held the microphone up the Graham's face.

"Necronomicon."

"That was Necronomicon! Remember to stick around folks, we'll be announcing EDMC's favourite band for the night in just an hour!" The announcer left the stage, not giving Graham or Violent Sects a second glance. "And remember to keep listening to EDMC: Where Metal Lives!"

Graham shook his head. That guy looked like he was more into easy listening than metal, and he was the one they sent to judge? Violent Sects left the stage, and Graham headed back to Amber, Dylan and Jared.

"God, I need a smoke," he said as he passed them.

"Why, was it good for you too?" Dylan asked. "Wait, I want one, too," he called, nearly knocking over drinks as he clumsily stumbled to his feet and jogging after Graham.

Jared sighed as they left and Amber smirked in response. "Stop that."

"What?"

"You're wondering what she sees in him."

"No!" Jared said defensively. "I mean, I like her, but…"

"Ugh, stop being such a Nice Guy," Amber shook her head.

"Hey…" Jared held up his hands in an appeasing gesture. "I'm happy if she's happy."

Outside, Graham and Dylan stood with a crowd inside what looked like a fog-bank. They gathered at the edge of the parking lot, where it met the club and the entrance road. On every other side, the lot was bordered by trees. As they took their first puffs from the cigarettes, a few of the smokers recognized Graham. A couple even clapped him on the back, congratulating him on the show.

"Good job, man," a man with a beard and long, red hair. "You guys were definitely the best ones up there."

"Thanks. I hope the judge thinks so, too."

"They'd have to be deaf not to," a girl with long, blonde hair butted in. "I mean –"

The fan was cut off by the sound of wood cracking. It echoed across the parking lot, far away despite its volume. The chatter among the smokers stopped as they listened for a moment, before they all laughed at their surprise.

"A tree must have fallen in the woods," Dylan mused.

"Guess we know whether it makes a sound, now," Graham joked.

Another crack cut off the polite titters. "Maybe it took out another tree on the way down?" Dylan whispered. There was a third crash, then a fourth, before the sounds became indistinguishable from each other, a cacophony of destruction getting louder as it got closer.

"Shit, what the fuck is that?" someone screeched.

The trees parted on the opposite side of the parking lot, pushed aside by an invisible force. The night, including the pack of smokers, was completely still for a second, until something unseen crashed into the car closest to the trees, crumpling its back half and shoving it out of the way. Another car was sent bouncing across the pavement to the street, and several twitched to the side, as if glanced by a hit and run.

The group of smokers gawked, open mouthed, their cigarettes forgotten. A bee line through the woods and parking lot rapidly cleared itself of obstacles. Some of the observers started to back up towards the door, but couldn't turn their eyes away as they tried to understand what was happening. As two-thirds of them packed into the small alcove in Absinthe's entranceway, the rest stood frozen, staring.

Two cars parked right outside the entrance suddenly shot apart, as if a giant wedge had forced itself between them. A few scattered gasps went up from the crowd, until one girl flew backwards on her heels, into the brick wall of the club's unadorned façade, and the gasps turned to shrieks. She hovered a few feet above the sidewalk, screaming, as if pinned. Her legs and arms flailed, writhing, as she struggled against the force holding her in place, while the throng of people kept their distance, unsure how to help or even react.

With a thud, the girl abruptly fell, crumpling on the ground. The night went completely still and quiet again, and the girl didn't move, apparently unconscious. The only sound was the panicked breathing of the confused crowd.

* * *

Hey guys! I just wanted to say near the start of this thing why I'm writing this. Recently there was a minor mention in the news of Sam Raimi saying he was going to make an Evil Dead 4, and the fans did rejoice. I was definitely intrigued, since I really want to know how a continuation of the Evil Dead series would be handled, especially twenty years after Army of Darkness. Anyways, literally the next day Sam Raimi said he'd been taken out of context, asked leading questions, etc., etc., and I was pretty disappointed. So for fun, I decided to think about how I would handle Evil Dead 4. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it and please don't hesitate to leave a review no matter what you think :)

Oh yeah, one last thing... Anyone who's read my stories before may know I have a habit of being totally shameless in my attempts to get my original work noticed. I've been published once, and if you did enjoy my writing you may want to check it out at www dot tinyurl dot com slash ApproachingOne, and I hope to announce another publication soon on my twitter account SeaLenz. We now return to your scheduled programming.


	2. Chapter 2

"Pick her up!" Graham finally called to the group, breaking the silence. "Let's get her inside."

Most stared at him in bewildered shock, but Graham and another smoker pushed forward, picking the injured girl up at her head and feet, and carried her quickly, but carefully, into the club, while Dylan held the door open.

"Stop the music," Graham called again when they were inside. "We've got an emergency here."

Those nearest the door spread apart, clearing some space, while a wave of puzzlement rippled back into the club. At their table, Amber and Jared craned their necks, trying to see what was happening. "What's going on?" Jared wondered aloud.

"It looks like there's someone lying on the floor," Amber replied, and they both got up to push through the crowd.

As an explanation of what was happening was passed from person to person, understanding flowed through the room. The music was finally shut off, and the soundtrack of the club became the din of confused whispers. Behind the bar, someone dialed 911.

"Give her space!" Graham told everyone as they surged forward for closer looks.

"Is she OK?" Amber asked, nudging her way next to Graham. "What happened?"

Graham shook his head. "I dunno. There was this wind or something. She got knocked into the wall."

"I'm sorry, did you say she got knocked out by wind?" Jared repeated.

"I don't know what it was!" Graham said, standing. "All I know is, something knocked over a bunch of trees and dented some cars, and then it hit her!"

Jared raised an eyebrow. "Wind can't dent cars."

"Well if it wasn't the wind, it was something invisible, so I don't know what to tell you!"

On the floor, the girl's eyelids sprang open to reveal blank white orbs. She shot up, continuing past a standing position, to again hover, this time floating free of any walls. Her head lolled as a demented grin stretched across her face.

"Foolish creatures," she rasped, her voice sounding like dozens whispering in almost perfect unison. "Why have you awakened us once again?"

The club went quiet. Not a single person uttered a word as they stared up at the girl, afraid to even blink. The only sound was her low chuckling.

"Dude…" Dylan breathed to Graham. "What the fuck?"

"I… I don't…"

Grabbing Amber's arm, Jared pulled her back, away from the floating girl. "C'mon," he urged, his voice low. "We need to get out of here."

"We don't even know what's going on," she responded, her brow furrowed.

"What, do you have an explanation that's not out of a horror movie?"

"Maybe it's…" Amber trailed off, thinking. "Ok, there has to be a logical explanation."

Without warning, the girl flew forward, her hands gnarled into stiff claws. She plowed into someone in the middle of the crowd, bringing them to the ground. From their place near the front of the club, Amber and Jared couldn't see what was happening over the heads of the rest of the mass of people, but there was a ripping sound, and the screams of the girl's victim echoed throughout the room.

Some of those closer to what was happening rushed forward, trying to pull the girl away. As the screams turned to wet gurgles choked by blood, those who tried to help were flung up above the audience, landing in a heap on the club's other patrons.

Jared kept pulling Amber towards the door, dragging her in her stupor towards potential safety. Noticing their escape, Graham and Dylan followed, keeping their eyes focused on the centre of the room.

"You should not have awoken us," another strange whisper hissed from the far corner of the club.

"You have disturbed our slumber," a third voice came from behind the bar.

"And now we hunger," a final voice roared near the door. The club erupted into screams of terror and agony as the owners of the voices flung themselves into the masses of people, tearing at their flesh with inhuman strength.

"Now do you think we should go?" Jared demanded as he forced his sister out the door and halfway across the parking lot, Dylan and Graham following close behind.

"Man, where are you going? We don't know what the fuck that was!" Graham shouted at Jared's fleeing back.

"Yeah?" Jared answered, whirling around to face Graham. "So what was it? What the hell could that possibly be?"

"Maybe it's a publicity stunt or some shit, I don't know!"

"Guys…" Amber interrupted, trying to calm them down.

"A publicity stunt? Seriously? That looked pretty goddamn real to me."

"Listen to yourself! It didn't look real, because it's not something that happens in real life. What do you even think it was, some zombie apocalypse bullshit?"

"Guys?" Amber tried again.

"I don't know what I think, I just know we need to get away from it."

"Guys!" Amber yelled over them, pointing towards the club door.

The girl they'd dragged inside, the first to attack the people in the club, stood just outside the club door. Her skin was grey and mottled, and her hands and forearms, along with the front of her dress, were drenched in blood. Her hair, in a thick tangle, was strewn in front of her face, so that her only visible feature was her bloody smile.

The group stood perfectly still for a long moment before, at once, they all ran for Graham's car. Behind them they heard shrieks of laughter coming closer and closer. Even though the car was nearby, the mirth was ear-shattering by the time they whipped the doors open and dove inside. The girl kept laughing as she plowed into the car, banging against the windshield and leaving handprints and long, bloody streaks. The engine started with a thin whine and Graham hit the gas, reversing the car at full speed out onto the road, jarring everyone in the car as he switched gears, speeding forward down the dark, wooded road as abruptly as he'd left the parking lot.

There was a long silence inside the car. "Jared, man," Graham forced out, laughing nervously, "You're gonna be so embarrassed when you find out it was all some kinda joke."

"I'm ok with that."

Not another word was spoken until the car reached the small main street less than two minutes later. As they reached the familiar lights and buildings of their hometown, the occupants of the car leaned forward, gaping out the windows. Normally no one would have been out at this hour; everything would be dark except street lights, and the streets themselves would be deserted.

Not tonight. Tonight, windows were shattered and the air was filled with screams. A car, partially blocking the road, was ablaze, and next to it a man fought for his life against a woman with skin grey like the girl at the club.

"Fuckin' zombie apocalypse," Graham said softly.

A hand clasped Graham's shoulder and he jumped in surprise. He turned to see Dylan leaning forward, looking at him intently. "We need to go get Ash," Dylan told him.

For a moment Graham's mouth tried to form words, but nothing came out. "Right," he finally said, nodding in agreement. "Right. No soldier left behind." With that he hit the gas, speeding to the other end of town.

"Fuck," Dylan swore as the pulled into the parking lot of the S-Mart, minutes later. "We're gonna have to deal with Hole."

"What kind of a name is Hole, anyways?" Jared asked.

"It's not really his name."

"Then why do you call him that?"

"Because he's a dickweed," Dylan snorted. "He's just an assistant manager, but he runs this place like it's his own private boot camp. He's the only guy who works there who won't let anyone call him by his first name. Says it's about respect or some shit. He thinks he's King Shit even though he spent his whole life working at S-Mart."

"You're just mad because he noticed you came into work high," Jared pointed out.

"Shut up," Dylan retorted. "Let's just get Ash and go."

Graham drove through the empty parking lot, coming to a stop just outside the main door of the enormous store. The group got out of the car, half walking, half jogging to the entrance. Behind them, the sound of wind seemed to come from nowhere, before it picked up, becoming louder. The noise became more distinct, separating itself into individual giggles, and they turned around.

A grey arm, bent at a harsh angle and ending in a bony hand covered in scratches, was reaching out from beneath the car. The fingers clawed into the pavement, dragging the rest of the body out. The laughing grew louder.

"Jesus Christ, she followed us from the club?" Graham cried, staring in shock.

Beside him, Dylan turned and bolted to the entrance of the S-Mart. The glass rattled as he pounded rapidly on the door. "Ash!" he screamed. "Ash, let us in!"

"You left so soon," the rotted-looking girl rasped, rising to her feet. "You missed the party."

Graham, Jared and Amber began backing away, keeping their eyes on the girl stumbling towards them, while Dylan kept hammering his fist against the glass. "Ash! Come on!" he yelled desperately.

A girl with long, black hair, olive skin and narrow eyes came into view, turning to come down an aisle stuffed with lawn care supplies to stride briskly towards the door. She raised her hands and shoulders in a shrug of frustration, her expression demanding to know what anyone could want at this hour.

As she neared them, Dylan heard the girl, muffled through the glass, ask: "What?"

"Let us in, Ash!" Dylan begged Ashley.

"Dylan, I'm working," she shook her head before her eyes shifted to the girl behind them. Taking in the girl's milky eyes and ripped, dead skin, she gasped. "What's wrong with her?"

"We don't know," Jared said, finally tearing his vision away from the girl to intercede. "But she's trying to kill us!"

Ashley studied Jared's face before she nodded once. The lock clicked open with a heavy sound, and she pulled the door open quickly, standing aside to let her friends in. They rushed past her, and she pushed the door shut as hard as she could before locking it again and backing away, staring at the girl outside. With a deranged grin, the girl raised her fist, beating it slowly against the glass in a grotesque parody of Dylan's desperation, leaving bloody smears. Finally, she brought her hand down harder than she should have been able to, and the entire pane of glass shattered, falling away.

The group watching jumped back a step. Amber let out a short shriek, and Ashley grabbed Dylan's arm. "What the fuck is going on?" she demanded. Dylan could only shake his head in numb shock.

The girl stepped through the empty doorframe, slowly approaching them. "Uh, guys…" Jared said, his voice low. "I think we should run."

Jared's words took a moment to register, and then, as one, they turned and ran. The girl howled with laughter and followed them as they raced through the aisles. At the end of the aisle they split up, everyone unsure of which way to go or whether to stay together. Graham and Amber dashed to the right, Jared to the left, and Ashley and Dylan kept in a straight line, sprinting for the back of the store, hoping not to lose speed by turning.

Unfortunately for them, the girl seemed to agree with the advantage of keeping to a straight path. Ashley risked a peek over her shoulder, and saw that the girl was just behind them, reaching out long, gnarled fingers. As they exited the aisle, escaping into the large open space of S-Mart's electronics section, Ashley gasped as the girl lunged forward, snagging Dylan's t-shirt and wrenching him back. He screamed as the girl dug her nails into his arm, ripping five long furrows into his skin.

Dylan's sneakers squeaked against the floor, fighting to get a grip as he struggled back. Ashley held his other arm, helping him pull against the girl, both of them losing. A deafening boom thundered throughout the store, echoing into the high rafters of S-Mart, and bits of plaster rained down from the ceiling. The three froze, their battle suddenly paused.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we're closed," a voice announced from further back in the store. Ashley, Dylan and the girl's heads all whipped around to locate whoever was speaking. Their eyes came to rest on a shotgun held high in the air. Their gaze traveled down, past the prosthetic hand with its finger on the trigger, to the man with the gun. His black hair was streaked in places with white, and he held his prominent chin up defiantly, his eyes burning. In his left hand, he held a long-handled axe.


	3. Chapter 3

Dylan and Ashley stayed still, but the girl let go and pulled herself to her full height, a small smirk of amusement tugging at her lips. "Shouldn't you be running in fear?" she mocked.

"No," the man answered, calmly leveling his shotgun at the girl and slowly walking towards her, letting the axe drag against the tile floor. "But you should be."

The girl let out another high-pitched peal of laughter. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." Smoke exploded out of the shotgun again, and the scattershot projectile slammed into the girl's face, taking off half her head in a wet splatter that splashed against the big-screen TV behind her. With a surge of speed, the man with the gun dashed forward with his axe raised. He brought his foot down on the girl's chest, holding her in place, and he slashed the axe down again and again, severing her arms and legs in less than ten seconds.

"Holy shit!" Dylan yelled, clamping a hand over the deep cuts in his arm as he backed away. "What the fuck, man?"

"Who the hell is this guy?" Graham demanded, Amber peeking out from behind him as they leaned out from behind another aisle, drawn by the sound of the gunshots. On the other side of the store, Jared jogged out from another aisle to see what was happening.

The man panted from the exertion and let the axe fall to the floor. He looked up, taking in the small group watching him, before he focused on Ashley and Dylan. His forehead furrowed as he frowned in recognition.

"Aren't you that kid I fired for smoking up in the break room?" he asked.

"Uh…" Dylan replied intelligently.

"Mr. Williams –" Ashley tried to interject before he raised a hand, cutting her off.

"Just call me Ash," he told her. "This is gonna be a long night, and four extra syllables won't make it any shorter."

"That'll get confusing fast," Jared snorted.

Ash jabbed his finger at his chest. "Ash," he stressed, before pointing at Ashley. "Ashley," he said, clarifying. "Problem solved."

"Oh!" Graham exclaimed. "Like Ash Hole!"

"What?" Ash asked, bewildered.

"Never mind," Dylan said quickly. "Mr. Williams, we don't know what was wrong with that girl –"

"First things first," Ash interrupted. "Where's the book?"

"What book?"

"Fifty Shades of Grey. What the fuck book do you think?" Ash sighed. "Look, when you read from the book, it summons demons. That girl was possessed. She's not a threat anymore, but there's more where that came from, and we need the book to stop it."

"We still don't know what book you're talking about," Jared said.

"You'd know it if you saw it," Ash continued. "It's made from human flesh and inked in blood." He paused. "It's kind of distinctive."

"Oh," Amber said from behind Graham, her voice small.

Ash turned towards her. "Please tell me that sound means you have it."

"No…"

"But you know where it is?"

"Sort of," Amber squeaked out, shrinking as she tried to disappear behind Graham.

"What exactly does 'sort of' mean?"

"I can't get it, ok?" Amber blurted. "But there's a digital copy I can print off."

"Someone made a digital copy of the Necronomicon?" Ash asked, and then shook his head. "Whatever. Where is it?"

"I wasn't allowed to make a copy for myself, so it's at work. At the museum."

"Great. You," Ash pointed at Amber. "You're with me. Everyone else, you should be safe as long as you're indoors. Grab a gun from Sporting Goods and keep the doors locked."

As Ash began walking away, Ashley cried, "Wait! You're just gonna leave us here?"

"I don't have time to babysit," Ash replied, not slowing down.

"The door's smashed," Jared called to him. Ash stopped. "We can't lock ourselves in here, even if we wanted to."

"Fine," Ash answered with a sigh. "I'll get you somewhere safer. Come on."

The group started to follow Ash down the aisle. As Ashley stepped forward, Dylan grabbed her by the arm, holding her back. "Are you sure about this?" he asked her in a low murmur as Jared, Graham and Amber passed them. "That guy's nuts!"

"So's whatever's happening," Ashley whispered back, pulling away to follow. "And he seems to actually know what's going on."

"Yeah, but can we trust him?" Dylan said, jogging to keep up with Ashley's brisk pace.

"I trust him more than that girl, whatever she was. Besides, if it weren't for him…" Ashley looked at Dylan's bleeding arm pointedly as they left the S-Mart, heading towards one of only three cars in the parking lot.

"What the hell?" Dylan exclaimed, stopping to stare at the dented car. "That car is like, a hundred years old."

"Seven-hundred, actually," Ash answered, deadpan. He ran a hand lovingly along the yellow, 1973 Oldsmobile before unlocking it. "But only the body's original. Everything else has been replaced."

"Seven-hundred?" Jared repeated.

"Why don't we just take my car?" Graham asked.

"Because I don't believe in driving another man's car and we don't have time for me to give directions," Ash explained.

"I'm not getting in that piece of shit," Dylan proclaimed.

Shrugging, Ash got into the driver's seat. "Your decision. Have fun staying out here."

Ashley raised an eyebrow at Dylan, silently pleading with him to stop being difficult. Dylan heaved a sigh and followed everyone else into the car.

While everyone else piled into the back seat, Jared slipped into the passenger side up front. "You know how to shoot?" Ash asked him as he sat down.

"I've done a little bit of hunting."

"Good. Take this." He held the shotgun out to Jared. Jared took it with trepidation, watching Ash's prosthetic hand laboriously unfold its grip, before he carefully held it across his lap.

The car roared to life and Ash slowly pulled out of the parking lot, his eyes constantly scanning the road ahead for danger. He checked the rear view mirror just in time to see the glass façade of S-Mart explode outwards with a crash, followed by the tinkling of millions of shards of glass hitting the pavement. Less than a second later, Graham's car flew into the air, flipping end over end before coming to rest on its back, lights flashing and alarm blaring.

"My car!" Graham cried.

"Shit," Ash said. He hit the gas, pushing the pedal to the floor of the car. The car lurched forward, its powerful engine swiftly accelerating.

"What was that?" Jared asked, looking back.

"It's that thing again!" Dylan screamed. "That wind or whatever that started all this!"

"It's not wind," Ash replied, the Oldsmobile's tires screeching as it veered around a corner.

The street they'd just got onto had been a major one, and was never deserted, even in the middle of the night. Currently cars were scattered across it, abandoned by their occupants, some in perfect condition, some totaled beyond repair, and one with every surface of the interior entirely coated in a thick coat of blood. Ash swerved, whipping past the first of the cars with less than an inch to spare.

"So what is it?" Dylan demanded.

Ash hesitated. "I dunno," he admitted before being distracted by a squeaking noise to his right. "What are you doing? Don't open that!" he told Jared.

Jared stopped rolling the window down. "Oh, like the situation can get any worse," he said, shoving his head out the wide-open window, crouching on his seat to get his upper body outside and aim the shotgun.

Wincing, Ash focused on the road ahead. "Don't say that," he moaned. Behind them, the first of the discarded vehicles on the road suddenly, violently, rolled into the ditch.

Using the roof as support, Jared squinted over the barrel, carefully aiming at the place where the road disappeared into darkness. Without warning, the Oldsmobile serpentined between three cars spread across the street, nearly blocking it, and Jared doubled over, first pushed into the car roof, then clinging to it for fear of being flung out.

"Careful!" he yelled to Ash.

"Get back inside!" he heard shouted back to him.

As a dent materialized in the side of an otherwise pristine SUV, he lowered the barrel, shooting at the air beside the damage. Another car, apropos of nothing, flipped itself end over end, and Jared unloaded at the pavement underneath the vehicle. Desperate, he pulled the trigger again, only for it to click uselessly.

"I'm out," he said as he pulled back inside the car.

"It's a double barrel," Ash said with a look of disbelief. "By definition it only holds two shots."

With another screech, the car skidded around a corner onto a narrow side street. Ash raced through the small suburb at four times the legal speed limit, just ahead of the wave of destruction that followed, ripping through hedges and shrubs.

"I hope we're almost there," Ashley said, looking back, her eyes wide.

"How far back is it?" Ash asked.

"A few feet."

The Oldsmobile lurched forward again as Ash hit the gas. The unseen force behind them kept gaining. Suddenly, the car exploded forward. Ash's heart almost leapt with joy at the unexpected burst of power from the engine, until he realized that the tires were three feet above the pavement. There was a moment of terrible weightlessness as time seemed to stand still and the car rocketed forward, until gravity took over and the Oldsmobile hit the road hard, the front end bouncing wildly from the energy of the impact.

Sparks flew and the shriek of metal on cement filled the air. Ash kept his foot on the gas, trying to keep going, but the car fought, dragging itself along, shedding speed.

Before the car had even slowed to a complete stop, Ash popped the door open and threw himself out, sprinting as fast as he could. "Everybody run!" he called back to the shocked occupants of his car, taking a quick glance at the damage.

Nothing remained of the Oldsmobile behind the back windshield. The entire back axle had been ripped off, tearing a long gash through the body of the car and taking a huge chunk of the vehicle with it. Ashley, Dylan, Graham, Amber and Jared didn't even bother to see what the damage was before running after Ash in a blind panic.

As the rest of the group took terrified glances over their shoulders, Ash kept his focus on the sidewalk ahead. What was following them couldn't be outrun; it could only be kept out. Ash veered to the right, quickly crossing a postage stamp lawn, before digging his keys out of his pocket. He slammed a key into the lock as he ran into the door, quickly unlocking it and thrusting it open. Stepping inside, he held the door ajar, waving for the rest of the group to get inside.

They rushed past Ash one by one, and he slammed the door shut behind them. With a series of loud clicks, he turned the latch, put the dead bolt in place and threw a small crossbar across the top left-hand side of the door, before throwing his back against the entrance, bracing against the force that rammed into the thick wood as it tried to get inside.

* * *

Yo, various readers! Out of every piece of fanfic I've ever written, this one would be the most heartbreaking for me to screw up, as I'm a huge fan of the Evil Dead series. Let me know if this is going alright!


	4. Chapter 4

With each thud against the door, Ashley, Dylan, Graham, Amber and Jared recoiled another step in terror. Relatively composed, Ash stayed in place, buttressing the door until the banging stopped. He pushed away from the door, striding down the hall, glancing at Dylan's arm as he passed. "You're bleeding all over my floor," he told him.

As Ash disappeared down the hall, Dylan scowled. "Thanks, I didn't know," he replied.

"Should we follow him?" Amber whispered.

After a few shrugs and shared looks of bewilderment, the group slowly started down the hallway after Ash. Turning the corner, they saw a doorway that opened to stairs leading downwards. The space beyond the door was lit by a bare, incandescent light bulb.

The group descended into the basement. It was lined on the sides running parallel to the stairs with huge metal cabinets which Ash was currently unlocking and throwing open one at a time to reveal shelves upon shelves of guns, as well as an array of slashing weapons like machetes, axes and the occasional sword. Against the wall opposite the stairs was a final cabinet, set apart from the others, not as wide but just as tall. Underneath and to the side of the stairs was a closed door.

"Jesus…" Ashley gasped as she gaped, Dylan nearly running into her as she stopped dead on the stairs.

Grinning, Graham leapt off the stairs into the centre of the room. "That's what I'm talkin' about," he enthused. "Here, catch!" he said, tossing shells to Jared.

"Who are you?" Jared asked, dumbfounded, as he reloaded the shotgun with the ammunition Jared had passed to him.

Ash threw open the last of the cabinets on the side walls and walked to the final locker, the one that appeared to almost be a focal point. "Me?" he asked, unlocking the cabinet. "I'm the King." He whipped open the locker doors and retrieved what looked like a combination between a holster and harness. He pulled it over his head and started tightening the straps.

"So, this guy's totally insane," Dylan whispered, scratching at the wounds on his arm.

"Nope," Ash answered, overhearing Dylan's words. "I just never want to be caught off-guard again." Staring at his back, the group watching Ash toss his rubber prosthetic hand over his shoulder and shove his wrist into something which he secured to his arm. With his left hand he grabbed a sawed-off double barrel shotgun from the shelf, spun it expertly so that it pointed downwards, and placed it in the holster strapped to his back.

Turning around, Ash let his arm drop from the weight of the chainsaw hanging from his wrist. The group of young adults staring at him froze in shock. Graham's grin faded and Jared's knuckles went white as his grip on the shotgun he held tightened.

Ignoring them, Ash stuffed shotgun shells into his pockets. "Alright," he started. "That door," he nodded behind them at the basement door, "is reinforced. It'll keep out most anything. Once I'm gone, just lock yourselves in for the night and you should be fine."

Still looking in the group's direction, Ash's eyes narrowed. With lightning speed, he yanked his shotgun back out of its holster, leveling it at the group. "Get down," he commanded.

"No way," Jared replied, bringing his shotgun into position, pointing it at Ash.

"Kid, I'm serious," Ash said slowly. "Move. Now!"

Before Jared could react, he heard a scream begin and suddenly choke off behind him. He turned to see, a few steps above him, Ashley's legs kicking as Dylan lifted her by her neck with one hand. The fingers wrapped around her throat were grey, ending in talon-like nails. Jagged cracks carved black tangles over his arms, starting at the long gashes in his arms, thinning as they spread outwards and upwards over his shoulder, like an obscene tattoo.

Amber and Graham threw themselves out of the way. Jared, only a few steps away from Dylan, held out the shotgun, pressing it into Dylan's temple. "Let her go, asshole," he said through gritted teeth.

Dylan turned his head an inch to return Jared's gaze, a grin slowly spreading across his face, exposing blackened teeth that seemed slightly too sharp to be in a human mouth. "Sure," he hissed, and complied, loosening his grip.

Ashley dropped, the small of her back banging into the banister, before she bounced off and tumbled to the cement floor, totally limp. "Ash!" Jared yelped, instantly leaping to her side.

The report of Ash's shotgun rattled the cabinets and the walls of the small space. Dylan staggered back as shrapnel ripped his shoulder apart. Before he could regain his balance, Ash quickly jerked his arm, and the chainsaw revved to life. Its harsh whine filled the room as he advanced.

"No," Ashley moaned, struggling to sit up, her voice barely audible over the sound of the chainsaw.

"Let's get you somewhere safe," Jared said, helping her up.

"No," she told him, more forcefully, fighting to her feet. She stepped to the side, placing herself directly in Ash's path, facing him with determination. "I won't let you do this."

"You don't have a choice," he answered.

Behind her, Jared kept his shotgun pointed at Dylan, who had recovered and was slowly heading for Ashley, leering. "Back off, man. We're friends, remember?" he asked hopefully. "Don't make me do this."

"Get out of the way," Ash growled as Dylan closed the distance between him and Jared.

With a laugh, Dylan taunted, "Can you really do it? Can you really hurt your best friend?"

"You said they're possessed, but we can stop it if we had the book," Ashley said, the words tumbling out of her mouth at high speed. "So if we fix all this, he should go back to normal."

Dylan's advance was stopped dead as his shotgun blasted pellets through his knee. He fell backwards, hitting the floor with a thud. "I didn't say we were _best_ friends," Jared corrected him.

Quickly glancing behind her, Ashley confirmed that Dylan was still relatively intact. Ash tried to step around her, but she moved, blocking his way again. "Please! Don't you understand? I love him."

Ash hesitated, his features softening. "Yeah, I understand," he nodded, holstering his gun. "You still need to move."

Sucking in a quick breath, Ashley considered, before she gave a single nod back and stepped out of Ash's way. Jared followed suit. Without giving them a second glance, Ash approached Dylan, who was attempting to get back to his feet, the endeavor forcing shards of his tibia through the skin over his calf muscle. Ash swung, delivering a backhand across Dylan's face with his chainsaw.

Dylan hit the cement floor again, this time stunned. Ash kicked him, rolling him over, and grabbed the front of his t-shirt, dragging him along the ground, pulling him under the stairs. He yanked the single door in the basement open and threw Dylan inside, slamming the door shut and locking it. Seconds later, the door was nearly rattling off its hinges as Dylan tried to break it down.

"Now, as I was saying, stay here and you should be safe," Ash reiterated as he briskly headed for the stairs.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Graham stopped him. "I'm not staying here with that thing."

"You'll be fine," Ash said dismissively, resuming his trip up to the main floor. "If he gets out, it's not like you're unarmed."

"That's not any better!" Ashley shot back, stepping forward. "Look, can't we just leave him here? Then there's no one around here he can hurt and he should be fine when we get back." Her jaw set, Ashley crossed her arms, clearly not planning on budging on the issue.

Ash sighed. "Fine," he rolled his eyes. "Everyone grab a gun and something sharp. If you come with me, you're gonna have to defend yourself."

While Ash leaned against the basement doorframe, waiting, the group downstairs exchanged uncertain looks before dispersing, examining different sections of shelving.

"Hell yeah," Graham said, aiming a magnum experimentally.

"Can you not be so happy about this?" Ashley asked him, gingerly picking up a machete.

Graham grinned. "Shouldn't you be taking this?" he shot back, holding out a katana.

"I'm Korean, idiot," Ashley scowled, but took the samurai sword anyways. Graham snatched her discarded machete.

Swinging an axe slightly to feel its heft, Jared chimed in. "What's with needing melee weapons when we have guns?" he wondered aloud.

"'Melee weapons'?" Amber repeated with amusement, casually holding a short, medieval-looking sword and a small handgun. "You would treat this like Dungeons and Dragons, wouldn't you?"

"Hurry it up down there," Ash called, impatient.

"Yeah, yeah," Amber muttered, heading upstairs. "I can see why Dylan said his last name is Hole," she whispered back to the rest of the group.

"What are you talking about?" Graham whispered back. "This guy's awesome!"

Hearing their footfalls on the stairs, Ash kicked away from the doorframe, sauntering down the hall. "You said the Necronomicon's at the museum?" he asked Amber over his shoulder.

"A hard drive with the scans of its pages is there."

"So we'll need a car," Ash said to himself, unlocking the first of the array of locks on his front door.

"That's our plan? Seriously?" Jared raised an eyebrow. "We're gonna go out there, with… Whatever the hell's out there, and hope there's a car we can use?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Ash looked at Jared over his shoulder. "Why? You got something better?" When Jared could only scowl back, Ash went back to the long process of unlocking his front door. "That's what I thought," he said, pushing the door open.

Careful to stay well behind Ash, the group slowly crept out into the darkness. Ash stuck to the shadows, moving slowly, the smallest noise making them start looking around wildly for its source. They warily made their way half a block down the street, when Ash pulled up short.

"There," he said, nodding at a car in one of his neighbour's driveways, the door slightly ajar.

"Ok," Graham replied. "Anyone know how to hot wire a car?"

"We might not have to," Ash said, approaching the vehicle. "The door's open, so someone was probably just about to use it." With his good hand, he shoved the door open before ducking halfway into the car for a better look. "See, what'd I tell you?" he asked with a grin of triumph. "The keys are in the ignition."

"Then where's the driver?" Ashley wondered.

With a savage screech, a figure of dried, rotted flesh wrapped tightly around bone hurled itself out of the backseat and onto Ash, its weight throwing him to the ground. It landed firmly on top of him, and he pushed his hand against its chest to try to heave it off of him. The thing pushed back, forcing itself closer to Ash and wrapping its fingers of bone and tendon around his throat.

As Ash gasped for air, he flailed his arms, smacking the thing in the ribs with his chainsaw. The blows barely seemed to register. Ash struggled for air, barely able to breathe. "Help," he finally managed to get out.

Ashley, Dylan, Amber and Graham had stood watching, paralyzed by shock when the thing appeared. Ash's attempt to speak brought them back to reality, and they all reacted at once in a flurry of movement, surrounding the struggle.

Pointing the magnum downwards, Graham pulled the trigger, shattering the skull and destroying the already desiccated grey matter inside. When the new hole in its head failed to discourage the thing, he chopped down with the machete he'd grabbed, severing the spinal cord. With another downward whack, the head separated, falling directly onto Ash's face before rolling away. As the decapitated body refused to stop, Ash's face began to turn a deep crimson.

"What the hell?" Graham demanded. "It's remove the head or destroy the brain, right?"

Graham couldn't tell if the syllables Ash tried to choke out were agreement or not.

"For fuck's sake," Ashley said, shoving Graham out of the way. She swung her sword into the shoulder of the corpse, easily slicing through muscle and bone, exposing twitching tendons. Hacking downwards again, she took the other arm off before giving the thing a powerful kick in the side, catapulting it off of Ash and into Jared's knees.

Jared jumped away before he, Amber and Graham formed a circle around the body. Its legs kicked wildly until it managed to roll over and rise first to its knees, then its feet. The three exchanged looks, each hoping the other would act first. After a few false starts, Jared swung his axe.

Even without their body, the hands continued to strangle Ash, the arms rigidly standing straight up in the air. Bending down, Ashley grabbed the upper arms and pulled, yanking Ash into a sitting position. As the grip on his neck weakened and air trickled into his lungs, Ash fought back, pulling against Ashley. They separated, both falling backwards.

Ashley landed with a thump, still holding the limbs out at arm's length. Bending at the elbow, they both reached back, the hands grasping for her. With a short shriek, she threw them across the street.

Sitting a few feet away from her, Ash panted. "Thanks," he rasped, his throat raw.

Ashley just nodded, unable to form words. After a moment they both scrambled to their feet.

"For future reference," Ash said, standing, "Those things don't stop just because they should be dead. They'll keep coming as long as they can still move." After a moment's thought, he added, "Watch out for hands."

* * *

Hey, as usual, anyone reading: feel free to let me know how I'm doing!


	5. Chapter 5

Jared nudged the still-twitching torso away with his foot and stepped over the severed legs. "I guess we better get moving," he said.

Ash nodded. "Someone else has to drive," he pointed out, holding up his chainsaw.

"I'll do it," Ashley said firmly, heading for the open door of the car.

"Shotgun," Ash deadpanned.

As Ashley turned the key, Amber, Graham and Jared got into the cramped back seat of the car and Ash sat down in the front passenger seat. The small hybrid pulled out of the driveway slowly, Ashley vigilant as her vision constantly swept the mirrors for any sign of movement around them.

"This isn't right," Ash muttered to himself as they pulled onto a wider street, littered with the cars that had been wrecked on their flight from S-Mart.

"Ya think?" Graham said from behind him. "Yeah, this whole zombie apocalypse does seem out of the ordinary."

"I already told you, they're not zombies. They're demons." Ash shook his head. "And that's not what I meant. It's spreading too fast."

"Too fast?" Graham repeated. "Compared to what?"

"This has happened before," Ashley realized. "To you."

"Yeah."

"Is that how you lost your hand?" Amber blurted. After a moment's thought, she added, "Sorry."

The car was silent as they pulled onto the highway. "So, if this thing isn't supposed to spread this fast, does that mean the museum should be safe?" Jared wondered. "I mean, if it's far enough away it'll be out of the danger zone, right?"

"I'm not so sure that helps us," Ash mused. "This thing likes to cut off any escape. If we can make it there, it might not be a good sign."

"What could happen though?" Graham asked. "You think the road might be ripped up?"

"I don't know," Ash admitted. "All I know is that if we can get there, it's only because this thing doesn't mind us getting there. "

The car lapsed into silence again. The road winding through the dense forest was clear. Unlike in the town, where signs of violence and chaos were everywhere, everything looked normal as Ashley pulled the car up to the small museum on the outer limits of the next city.

"You better have a key or something," Ash told Amber as the group climbed the steps to the museum's main entrance.

"Or something," Amber answered, fishing an ID card out of her wallet as she abruptly changed direction, heading for a side door set off to the side of the large, grand entrance doors. She swept the card across a small black box set into the wall. A light on the box briefly flashed green and Amber pulled the door open, holding it for everyone else to file in ahead of her.

In the dimmed lighting, the large skeleton of a whale hanging on thick cables cast an eerie shadow. Ash scanned the large, high-ceilinged foyer of the museum, cautiously searching for any movement. "Why are the lights on?" he asked suspiciously.

"People are coming in to get work done at all hours," Amber explained. "There's always at least enough light to find your way around."

Holding up her ID card again, Amber swiped it by another black box, this one set into the wall of the foyer. She opened an innocuous door before she, Ashley, Jared, Graham and Ash slipped into a sparse but well-lit stairwell that went down. One floor down they exited into a long, narrow hallway. Amber led them left, then right, then left again, through a labyrinth of hallways and rooms stuffed with filing cabinets and display cases.

"What's with all this stuff?" Ash asked, looking at a box of dead, pinned butterflies. "Shouldn't this be on display?"

"Museums are archives of everything," Amber explained. "The sexy stuff, the things people want to see, all go upstairs, but we also store and study the stuff that actually tells us about the world. We're here." Amber opened a door that led to an office so tiny the small desk took up half the floor space. Papers covered every available space in the cramped room. Leaning over, Amber wiggled the mouse and the ancient monitor on her desk lit up. As Amber typed quickly, everyone else waited out in the hall, unable to fit in the office.

"This was easy enough," Jared said with relief.

Ash winced at his words. "Don't jinx it," he said. "We're not out of this yet."

"C'mon, lighten up, man," Graham urged. "This has gone good so far."

Ash shook his head. "That's what worries me. This has been way too easy. It's almost like –"

At the same time as the sound of Amber's printer filled the air a loud bang echoed down the hallway. Ash's eyes snapped to the end of the hallway as everyone went quiet, listening for the slightest noise. For a few moments they waited, ears perked for any sound other than the printer.

"It's almost like they want us to get the Necronomicon," Ash finally murmured softly.

"I've almost got it!" Amber said perkily, peeking out of her office. Noticing the tension outside, she asked, "What's going on?"

"Shh," Ash quickly shushed her, raising a hand. Slowly he began moving down the hall, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Far ahead of them there was a slight rustling sound. Tilting his head to listen, Ash walked a few tentative steps forward. Amber ducked back into the office, monitoring the printer's progress. Everyone else froze, watching the shadowy space where the corridor turned a corner.

The entire group jumped as the printer gave one last, loud whine before finishing. Their gazes all shot back to the end of the hall, completely still, listening to the oppressive silence of the building. They stood like statues for nearly a full minute, waiting. The only movement was Amber, arms full of papers, stepping out of her office to peer into the darkness and try to figure out what everyone else was focused so intently on.

"Well?" she finally asked, startling them.

Sighing, Ash answered, "We should get out of here."

"Why?" Amber asked. "What's –"

Another rustle, this one distinct enough to be easily heard over Amber's voice, came from down the hallway. Instead of cutting off, this one continued, growing louder. With a burst of piercing screeches there was an explosion of movement down the hall. A flurry of feathers and beaks spread down the corridor like a grotesque living shadow.

"What the hell is that?" Graham asked, more shocked than scared.

"Finches, I think," Amber replied.

Ash raised his arm before pumping it once, starting the rusty whine of his chainsaw. "Run!" he called to the group.

"No way," Ashley said, stepping in front of him.

"I mean it, get out of here," Ash told her.

"Ashley, c'mon!" Jared yelled to her.

"You guys go," she said, looking back as she raised her katana, the swarm of undead songbirds yards away from consuming her. "You need speed for this."

Ashley whipped her head back to face the oncoming cloud of preserved specimens. The talons and beaks of the first of the flock were open, sharp and searching for flesh to slice through. The blade of the katana flashed as Ashley swung. Several halves of tiny feathered bodies fell to the ground.

Perceiving the threat, the swarm split around her like waves breaking against rocks. Enraged, the birds circled, coming back around. Behind her, Ash tried to block the finches from going further down the hall. The chainsaw was sluggish compared to the katana, but its spinning blade encountered no resistance from the small animals, and it flung lacerated corpses through the air.

The swirling vortex of shrieking beaks and claws spat dozens of dark, flying missiles towards Jared, Amber and Graham. Jared attempted to take some of their miniscule attackers down with his axe, but didn't have the flawless aim needed to hit any. Graham and Amber barely had better luck with their glorified knives. The air around them filled with shredding, ripping edges.

"Get out of here!" Ashley called back to them, flicking her sword out at individual pecking beaks.

"I think we better do what she says," Amber said, flailing her short sword out with one hand as she clutched the papers of the Necronomicon to her chest. She turned and fled, Graham following closely behind. After a moment's hesitation, Jared ran after them, a small cloud of finches just behind him.

Standing back to back, Ash and Ashley were surrounded by a cyclone of black feathers. The eye of the storm was like a blender, with small blades whipping past the two inside, cutting gashes into any exposed skin. Although the cuts they received were short and shallow, they were constant. In minutes, drops of blood flung from their arms and face surrounded Ashley and Ash.

Covering their faces, Graham and Jared raced after Amber, keeping pace back through the maze of cabinets and unlabeled doors. "I hope you know where you're going," Graham yelled to her as they ran down a tight corridor of glass cases which rattled and shook from the fluttering iridescent wings of the hundreds of beetles inside.

"Of course I know!" she called back. "I work here!"

She swerved right, and Jared and Graham slid, their shoes leaving scuff marks. Recognizing the home stretch, they sprinted for the stairwell halfway down the hall. The birds pursuing them shot by, dipping their talons into any flesh they could reach, before circling back around to leave more deep scratches.

Amber skidded to a halt, holding her ID up to the door. The light flashed red as she waved her card wildly. Graham and Jared caught up to her, the birds not far behind. The card passed by the black box again, making the light glow red again.

Graham yanked on the door handle. It rattled, unyielding. "Come on!" he yelled, slamming an open palm into the door.

Amber swiped the card in front of the box again. The lock clicked and the door effortlessly yielded to Graham's desperate pulling. He bolted through the door, Amber and Jared quickly following, just as the birds caught up.

The door slammed shut, locking in place. Jared and Graham doubled over, panting, but Amber let out a high squeal. They both looked up to see Amber waving her arms, clawing at her hair. A struggling, screeching finch fought, getting itself more and more tangled in her hair.

Jared grabbed the preserved animal, holding its wings and legs tight against its body. He pulled against it, unable to get the finch out of the snarl of hair. Graham leaned forward, carefully cutting chunks of hair, freeing the bird. With a final yank, Jared threw the bird to the ground and stomped on it, grinding his foot into the thing. He lifted his foot to see feathers twitch as muscles tried to move crushed and splintered bones.

"Dude, that's just wrong," Graham observed.

Revving the chainsaw, Ash held it out into the swarm, letting the birds fly into it, cutting a swath of clear air into the black cloud just behind the saw. Seconds later, the cloud shifted, the open space moving in front of the saw. Frustrated, Ash swung upwards, tearing more of the things apart.

With a string of short whooshes, Ashley slashed the katana through the air nearly ten times in quick succession. Dozens of bisected finches fell to the floor; even more skittered on the ground, wingless and disabled. As Ashley's lungs heaved with the effort, the flock finally thinned. As it was annihilated down to the last few birds, they dispersed, giving up.

"You're pretty good," Ash said, gesturing at Ashley's sword as he panted from the exertion.

Ashley considered the blade for a moment. "I was just swinging it around as fast as I could," she admitted. "How about you?" she asked, pointing at his chainsaw.

With a shrug, Ash replied, "You learn fast when you're stranded in a cabin with demons for a weekend."

Completely speechless, Ashley started the long walk back to the stairwell.

* * *

Sorry it took so long for an update, I was finishing up the semester from hell... Anyways, thanks for the review, evolution-500, you made a lot of good points I'll have to keep in mind.


	6. Chapter 6

Carefully placing another page upside down on the growing stack on the floor next to her, Amber pored over the next sheet. It was covered in detailed anatomical drawings of creatures she'd never imagined, let alone seen before. What little space remained was filled with arcane scribbles. Within moments Amber decided the page didn't contain the information she needed and put it off to the side with the rest.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Graham asked, pacing across the width of the bottom stair.

Amber didn't answer, her attention glued to the page in front of her.

"We can't just leave them," Jared responded with a shake of his head.

"Ash knows what he's doing. He can take care of himself," Graham said, before adding quickly, "And Ashley. Besides, now that we have the book we can stop this."

"They can't get out if we leave," Amber pointed out, holding up her key card, her eyes still focused on the paper in her lap.

"We don't even know that they're still alive in there!" Graham pleaded.

Amber's eyes finally snapped up from the Necronomicon while Jared just stared. Long, silent seconds passed.

All three of them jumped when a thump followed by a short squeak came from the direction of the basement hallway. They looked around to see a bloody handprint which hadn't been there a moment ago smeared on the glass of the small window set in the door. There was a quick series of light raps, making them jump again, until they saw Ashley's face framed by the window as she stood on the tips of her toes to try and get their attention.

Amber tossed her ID card to Jared who unlocked the door. Ashley entered, followed by Ash. Jared, Amber and Graham had been scratched and pecked by the demonic finches, but not like this. A mesh of wounds covered Ashley's bare arms, and Ash's sleeves were being held together by a chain of bloody threads. Both their faces had an assortment of cuts, although none looked serious.

"Alright, can we get out of here?" Graham begged, desperate.

Amber and Jared scowled at him.

"Actually," Ash replied, looking around, "It seems pretty quiet. We should hole up here until we know what we have to do."

"Thank God," Ashley said, sinking to the floor next to Amber, exhausted.

"Got it!" Amber squeaked happily before her smile faltered. "Uh oh. We need to read this passage," she indicated the exact spot in the text, "On the same spot the incantation was initially read." She looked back up at the group. "We need to head back to Absinthe."

"Alright," Ash said. "Let's get moving."

With a groan, Ashley forced herself back up from her spot on the floor while Graham pumped his fist, grinning. Amber gathered up the pages, holding them again to her chest with one hand so she could keep the other free to swing her sword. They all followed Ash up the stairs.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Ash grinned as Amber opened the door to the main foyer.

"Weren't you the one telling me not to jinx it before?" Jared joked.

Ash waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, but now we're almost out of here."

A faint clattering sound, almost like heavy wind chimes, came from overhead. Everyone looked up to the whale skeleton above the lobby. It undulated as if swimming, trying to shake free of the cables holding it in place.

"Should… Should it be able to do that?" Jared stuttered, pointing up. "How can a skeleton move without muscles?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Ash mused. "At least it's up there."

From behind them there was a loud snort. Slowly, not wanting to see what was there, the group turned. In front of the grand entrance that opened to the lobby – and the small door that would lead them to safety – was a wooly mammoth, pacing and stamping its enormous feet. It turned to face them, giving its head one long, ponderous shake before lowering it, its glassy eyes glaring at them from under its thick brow, its sharp tusks pointed directly at them.

"Ok, that definitely shouldn't be possible," Jared stated.

The mammoth let out a short trumpet before charging at them, its initially slow movements steadily gaining momentum. The group spun around and ran, heading deeper into the museum. They passed through a huge archway into the main hall of the museum, sprinting past exhibits in glass cases meant to tantalize visitors into the various wings. The mammoth's heavy footsteps shook the floor, felt rather than heard as they grew closer.

They split to run around a huge case in the middle of the hall displaying a stuffed and preserved lion. The middle of the case held a large stone that the lion would normally be posed upon, majestically mid-roar. Instead the massive paws slammed against the glass, the sharp claws leaving long scratches.

Now charging full tilt, the mammoth ignored the display case, its tusks tearing through the wood making up the base of the box like paper, sending splinters and shards of glass everywhere. Scooped up out of the cabinet on the tusks, the lion rolled off to the side before picking itself up, following in the wake of the mammoth's destruction, then quickly passing the larger beast.

"We need to go somewhere it can't follow us!" Ashley screamed.

"I know, we're almost there!" Amber yelled back

They reached the end of the hall and Amber veered to her left. Everyone followed her through the double doors into the medieval exhibit. Before the doors had completely closed, the taxidermy lion pounced, slipping through the small slit just before it clicked shut.

"Whoa, nice kitty," Ash said, holding up his hand, trying to calm the lion down. It focused on him, slowly stalking forward, every few seconds its whiskers twitching upwards as it sporadically bared large fangs. A low rumble came from deep inside it, the beginnings of a roar. "Good kitty," Ash attempted again.

Graham's eyes swept the room, taking in the sets of armour on either side of the door and the walls lined with glass cases full of lances, swords and battleaxes. As Jared tensed next to him, frozen like Amber and Ashley, clutching the axe in front of him like a talisman, Graham reached over and jerked the axe out of Jared's hands. "I got this," he smirked, before running further into the wing.

"What the hell, man?" Jared, now disarmed and helpless, asked Graham's retreating back.

In front of them, Ash hadn't noticed Jared and Graham, and was trying to appease the undead apex predator approaching him. The lion let out a thunderous roar, opening its mouth wide, showing Ash every one of its razor sharp teeth. In response, Ash yanked the rip cord on his chainsaw, returning the lion's sound with the rusty whine of the power tool.

The lion surged forward, crossing the distance between it and Ash in two powerful bounds. Throwing himself to the right to dodge the lion's pounce, Ash reflexively flung his chainsaw up in front of his face. The saw connected with the lion's head as Ash fell to the side, landing hard on the floor.

The sound of shattering glass came from a long way down the hall as the lion landed lightly on the tile floor, pacing in a wide circle to face Ash again. As Ash struggled to his feet, the lip on the left side of its face curled up, baring long teeth. The right side of its face didn't have to. The teeth were already visible, as were its jawbones and the bone around the eye socket, where the chainsaw had chewed the preserved flesh, ripping it off to expose bleached-white skull.

Ash yanked the rip cord again. The chainsaw gave a stuttering growl that refused to evolve into a roar. He tried again. The small two-stroke engine sputtered, out of gas. Eyes wide, Ash desperately looked between the lion advancing towards him and the chainsaw attached to his wrist. The muscles in the lion's haunch tightened, and its tail twitched as it prepared to pounce. The eye that still had tissue around it narrowed.

With a start, both Ash and the lion's focus shot to the end of the hall to find the source of a feral yell. A massive, double-edged battle axe held above his head, Graham hurtled between the exhibits, screaming wildly. Barreling towards the lion, he swung the axe down in a wide arc, like a pendulum, through the preserved hide of the animal.

The creature's eyes were wide, its jaw slack, not to show off its teeth, but because it was caught off guard. As Graham passed it, slicing through its neck, the head lolled forward. There was a ripping sound as the weight of the skull pulled through more skin, leaving the lion's head dangling, connected to the rest of the body by only a thin strip of hide. The gaping hole in its neck bulged with the stuffing used to keep the shape of the lion.

As Graham whirled around to see his triumph, the massive paws tried walking a few steps, wobbling and unsure. Experimentally, one paw batted at the head dangling in front of it like it was a ball of yarn, making the head swing slightly. Grinning, Graham lowered the axe, assured of his defeat of the lion until it rushed towards him, easily galloping despite the head bouncing between its two forelimbs. He had time to back up a few steps before the lion jumped onto him.

The door rattled as Graham was pinned against it. He screamed as sharp claws dug into his chest. The lion's head roared and its jaws snapped as it tried to find something to bite, but Graham was able to push it away, keeping the teeth at arm's length. He tried to swing upwards with the axe with his unpinned arm and succeeded in burying it in the beast's torso.

Suddenly the door splintered and there was a loud tearing sound as the tusks of the mammoth pierced through the door and deep into Graham, protruding out through his chest on either side of the lion. Every inch of the ivory was stained with blood. Graham's scream died in his throat, cut off by a wet gurgle.

"Son of a bitch!" Amber howled, startled out of her paralysis, and ran forward. Standing between the dripping tusks, she stabbed her short sword into the back of the lion again and again, its forelimbs slowly ripping away.

After a moment's hesitation, Ashley followed Amber, grabbing her to pull her away. Amber kicked and twisted, resisting, as Ashley hauled her to safety just before the enormous tusks gave a mighty shake, throwing the door off its hinges. The lion was tossed into the wall before landing on the floor with a heavy thud. Its head ripped off, rolling away, and it tried to rise up on its barely-connected front legs, but only succeeded in further tearing its savaged shoulders.

The mammoth tried to get through the human sized entrance into the medieval history exhibit, ponderously lowering itself onto its knees, Graham's corpse waggling in the air like a marionette. With a squirm, the mammoth got its shoulders under the door, but then stuck. No matter which way it tried to turn, it couldn't move forwards or back.

Ashley doubled over as Amber's elbow found its way into her solar plexus. Darting forward again, Amber let out another anguished wail. She grabbed Graham's battle axe from the floor and swung it into the mammoth's face. Bones crunched as the metal pulverized the skull. With all her strength, she continued hitting as many times as she could, reducing the enormous head to a shapeless mass of stuffing and fur. Finally she let the axe fall, slowly leaving the still struggling beast behind.

"Come on," she told everyone. "There's a back exit."


	7. Chapter 7

As Ash got back into the car, holding a full jerry can, Amber started the car and pulled away from the gas station. She resumed the drive to Absinthe, and Ashley stared at her from the passenger seat. In the back, Jared and Ash sat silently, gazing out their separate windows.

"You know," Ashley started quietly, "I know how you feel."

"No you don't," Amber answered with a shake of her head.

"Yes I do," Ashley shot back. "Dylan got shot pretty seriously, and even if he gets fixed, he could still die. He might even be dead right now."

"Oh yeah, your boyfriend _might_ be dead," Amber snorted. "That's exactly the same as seeing him get impaled by an extinct pachyderm. You don't know how I feel." She shook her head again. "None of you know how I feel," she added bitterly.

From behind her, Ash scoffed.

"You got something to say, old man?" Amber demanded.

"Nope," he replied. After a moment's thought, though, he said, "Actually, yeah, I do. You saw your boyfriend die, and that sucks, but at least you didn't have to kill him. At least he stayed dead, and you didn't have to chop her body into pieces while her severed head begs you to stop."

"'Her'?" Jared repeated.

"Oh," Ashley said, getting it.

"Yeah," Ash replied before lapsing into silence.

The car was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry," Amber finally said, pulling into the parking lot for Absinthe. "We're here." Amber drove right up next to the entrance before shutting the car off, and she and her three passengers slipped outside, quietly closing their doors before furtively crossing the few steps separating them from the club.

The usual darkness of the bar greeted them, the only light coming from muted ambient sources designed to keep the place as dim and atmospheric as possible. Ash went first, creeping forward slowly, and the rest followed, their feet all making sucking noises as they pulled them up off the floor.

"Do I even want to know why it's so sticky in here?" Ash asked, disgusted.

"It's probably just spilled drinks," Amber whispered.

Suddenly, Ash's foot caught on something and he fell, face first, to the floor. "Son of a bitch," he swore from the ground. "Can we get some lights?"

"It's a heavy metal bar. I'm not sure they even have lights," Jared mused.

Groping to find what he'd tripped on, Ash's hand landed on something solid, but with just a bit of give. He squeezed it, trying to determine what it was. His hand wandered down the length of the object, finally finding something recognizable. A sneaker.

Ash snatched his hand away from the severed leg and stood. Peering through the blackness, he tried to make out the floor. It was covered in misshapen lumps.

"Everyone, be careful," he warned Ashley, Jared and Amber, as he picked his way through the body parts to the bar. "Whatever killed everyone here is probably still around."

"What do you mean, 'killed everyone'?" Ashley asked.

Just then, Ash found a light switch on one of the support beams attached to the bar and flicked it on. The club lit up, illuminating the scattered pieces of corpses. The floor was coated in a layer of blood, clotted in places in thick black masses. The bar was as stained as the floor, and drops of blood oozed slowly to the ground.

With a bang, the door labeled 'Staff Only' next to the bar slammed open. A short man with a huge beer gut burst out from the door, brandishing a small revolver.

"Whatever you are, you're fuckin' dead!" he screamed, running towards Ash.

In a fraction of a second, Ash whipped the shotgun out of its holster on his back and had it leveled at the man's head. The man stopped instantly as the cold metal of the double barrel touched his forehead. His mouth flopped open and shut as he gaped, trying to form words, his revolver still pointing unsteadily at Ash.

"Y-you're not one of them, are you?" he finally asked.

"You wanna put that gun away?" Ash replied.

The man hesitated, then attempted to smirk, faking bravado. "You first," he sneered.

Ash cocked his head. "Really?"

"Er, well…" the man stammered, flustered by the shotgun unwaveringly pointed at his brain. "I suppose in the interests of common sense…" he trailed off as he quickly tucked his handgun into the back waistband of his pants. A second later, Ash holstered the shotgun.

"Please tell me you're a rescue crew or something," the man pleaded. He was greeted by shaking heads. "Well, why not?" he demanded. "How hard can it be to get down here?"

"It's not just here," Ash answered. "It's the whole town, maybe spreading."

"Damn… So we're screwed?"

"Actually, no," Jared replied. "We can stop this. Right?"

"Yeah, well, hopefully," Ash hemmed nervously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amber demanded. "You got Graham killed for a plan you don't even think is gonna work?"

"Isn't this what you did?" Ashley asked. "I mean, you've done this once, right?"

"Yeah, kinda," Ash vacillated again. "I mean, I'm not the expert on how this is supposed to work. Last time this happened to me, someone who was an expert on that book read something from it and that did the trick."

"So Amber reads the book and it's all good," Jared summed hopefully.

"Well…" Ash started again.

Ashley rolled her eyes. "What now?"

"Nothing, I'm sure it's fine," Ash said with a dismissive shake of his head. "Just… Maybe hold onto something."

"Maybe we should plan this better," Jared sighed. "Amber, what exactly does it say?"

Amber looked around, locating a table relatively free of blood stains before she put the Necronomicon down. "Ummmm," she hummed, her finger moving down the page as she found the relevant section of text. "It says the banishing incantation has to be said the same way as the summoning incantation. It doesn't translate exactly to English, but it specifically mentions location."

"Does it say anything about how the demons get banished?" Ash asked.

Amber read further. "Not really."

"Nothing about portals back to the middle ages?"

"What? No," Amber answered, confused. "As near as I can translate, it says something about tossing the demons into the gates of Hell." She looked up at Ash. "Sound OK to you?"

"I think I can live with that."

"What about having to read the incantation the same way though?" Jared interjected. "Are we screwed without Graham?" He thought for a moment. "Do we have to sing it?"

Now Ash was confused. "You turned part of the Necronomicon into a song?"

"A death metal song," Jared clarified.

"Oh, that makes it much better," Ash retorted sarcastically.

"Wait," the man they'd found in the club piped up behind them. Everyone turned to him, suddenly remembering he existed. "Do you mean to tell me that terrible song with the gibberish lyrics is the reason for all this?"

"Don't call my dead boyfriend's song terrible!" Amber yelled at him. "Why are you even here if you don't like metal?"

The man shrugged. "It was the only local radio station. I'm Larry Schmitt, by the way, from EDMC."

His introduction received only blank stares.

"Oh, come on! My station was broadcasting your shitty music all over… Well, all over town, anyways."

"How did you even survive?" Ash asked.

"Earplugs, mostly," Larry answered with a shrug.

"No, I mean, how did you survive when this," he gestured around at the chaos of the destroyed club, "happened?"

"I hid in the back and waited for everyone to finish tearing each other apart."

"Right," Ash nodded once. "Alright, everyone listen up. I don't know what's gonna happen when we do this, and Larry here ain't gonna be much help."

"Hey!"

Ash turned to Amber. "We better get this done. For all we know there's more of those things just waiting to attack."

With a nod, Amber headed to the stage. "May as well get this as close to perfect as we can," she sighed, taking a position where the microphone used to be. "Is everyone ready?"

"I guess," Ashley shrugged.

Jared nodded. "Yeah."

"Let's get this over with," Ash growled.

"Ok," Amber said, trying to keep her breathing steady. She took another deep breath and began: "En la nomo de Nyarlathotep kaj Azathoth," she intoned, and the lights seemed to dim.

Ash tensed, looking around nervously as the rafters shivered. "Stay sharp," he told Jared and Ashley. "They're not gonna let us get off this easy."

"Mi ordonas," Amber continued, "La pordegoj de la Infero malfermi kaj gluti la tero malsupre por tiuj diabloj."

There was silence throughout the club.

"Keep going," Ash urged Amber.

"That's it," Amber told him, a look of confusion on her face. "Did it work?"

"It must've, right?" Ashley answered. "We did exactly what the book said."

"Let's not get our hopes up," Ash cautioned. "I don't think it would've gone that smoothly if it worked."

"So, how do we test it?" Jared asked. "Just go outside, or what?"

There was a growl behind them. They all turned slowly to look at Larry, who stood still, his head held down, his eyes closed. Suddenly, he looked up, his eyes, now white, popping open.

"Fools!" he screeched at them. "You've failed because you don't understand." A rough, raspy laugh erupted from Larry's throat and he grinned at Ashley. "And all your souls will rot in Hell like your beloved Dylan."

Metal scraped against the floor as Ashley brought the katana up. "You bastard!" she screamed as she ran forward, brandishing the sword. She slashed downwards into Larry's shoulder, imbedding the blade. Struggling to free the sword, she stood in front of Larry too long, and his arm shot out, his palm slamming into Ashley, who was sent flying ten feet back. Ashley had barely landed before she hopped to her feet and grabbed Jared's axe.

"Hey!" he exclaimed powerlessly.

Holding the axe high, Ashley stormed forward again, but Ash held her back. "He's trying to piss you off into getting yourself killed," he told her.

"Oh, we haven't forgotten about you," Larry laughed, focusing on Ash. "Don't you want to see Linda again? We still have her soul."

Ash let go of Ashley, stepping closer to Larry. "You're lying," he accused.

Larry just let out another demented cackle. With a snarl, Ash revved the chainsaw and swung it across Larry's neck, cleanly severing his head. As Larry's body stumbled towards him blindly, he snatched the katana out of his shoulder and hacked downwards into the same spot, leaving a ragged stump.

Ash reared back before plunging the chainsaw deep into Larry's chest, letting it tear through his internal organs as the chain threw a geyser of blood to the ceiling. Using his free hand, he swung the sword into Larry again and again, severing his other arm and then slicing through his waist, separating his legs from his torso, before yanking the chainsaw free, leaving a gaping cavity in Larry's ribcage. As blood spurted up, filling the hole in pulses, Larry fell back, landing on the floor in a heavy, twitching mass.

His shoulders heaving with each breath, Ash dropped the sword and grabbed his shotgun, aiming it downwards. Still enraged, he pulled the trigger, blowing Larry's head into tiny, wet chunks. His opponent dead, Ash stared down at the corpse, unsatisfied.

"Well," Jared started, breaking the silence that followed, "That was efficient."

"And useless," Amber interjected. "What do we even do now? The incantation didn't work even though we did what the book says."

Ash holstered the shotgun and shut off the chainsaw. "We hole up in here," he answered. "We try to make it till morning. These things don't seem to like daylight. We can try to make a break for it at dawn."

"Seriously, that's it?" Ashley asked.

"You got anything better?"

Taking a moment to think, Ashley was silent.

"I didn't think so," Ash continued.

"Ok, fine," Amber conceded. "But it's still hours till dawn. How are we supposed to pass the time?"

Ash glanced towards the bar.

* * *

Yo, all! Feel free to leave a review if you love/hate how this is going, and thanks for your patronage either way :P


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure this'll hold?" Jared asked, nervously examining the makeshift barricade blocking the entrance.

"Will you relax?" Ash replied before taking a gulp from the bottle of whiskey in his hand. "If anything tries to kill us, it'll probably be one of us and not something from outside."

"That's very reassuring."

Ash grinned. "You're welcome."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Ashley demanded.

Holding out the bottle, Ash answered, "Liquid courage. You should try some." He looked over at Amber, who was frantically flipping through her pages of the Necronomicon. "That invitation extends to you, too."

"No thanks," Amber said.

The liquor in the bottle sloshed as Ashley snatched it from Ash's hand. She put it to her lips and inverted it, taking several large swallows.

"Easy there," Ash told her as she put the bottle down. "Too much is suicidal."

"And you care? You seem pretty resigned to dying," she accused him.

Ash shrugged. "I'm not resigned to it. There's just nothing we can really do about it."

"Maybe we should get him a dictionary," Jared suggested, wandering over.

"Look, I'm all ears if anyone comes up with anything," Ash shot back. After a few seconds' silence, he prompted, "Well?"

"Try to teach ourselves how to play guitar and see if we can play Graham's song?" Jared ventured.

"If that's the problem, we really are screwed," Ashley retorted.

"Yup," Ash concurred, taking another pull from the bottle.

With a tilt of her head, Ashley regarded him. "You wanna talk about it?"

"What, our impeding deaths?" Ash asked.

"No, I mean…" Ashley paused. "Whatever happened to you the last time."

Ash smirked. "I think I'm alright."

"It really doesn't seem like you are."

"Yeah, well, I am. So you can drop it," Ash told her.

"I don't think the music's the problem," Amber said to herself. "I mean, this thing keeps mentioning the location…"

"Maybe there's a site that's important to whoever wrote the book," Jared offered.

Amber shook her head. "No, it definitely says, 'where the incantation was heard'."

Ash narrowed his eyes. "You're sure it says heard, and not said," he clarified, looking up at the banner strung across the rafters of the club, advertising the fact that their Battle of the Bands would be played live on local radio.

"I'm sure," Amber confirmed.

With a hard thud, Ash slammed the bottle of whiskey onto the counter before striding over to Larry's dismembered body. He knelt to examine the corpse, quickly locating a laminated ID card clamped to Larry's belt. Triumphantly, Ash snatched the card up and stood.

"This isn't the right location," he said grimly, holding up the card. "This was only one place where the incantation was heard. It was broadcast all over town."

"So we can still fix this?" Amber asked hopefully.

"How?" Jared demanded. "Go all over town and read from the book everywhere we find a radio?"

"Not if the radio station is still broadcasting," Ashley replied. "Most of those radios are probably still on and tuned to the same channel, considering how fast that incantation worked."

Ash nodded. "We end this the same way it started. We'll broadcast the words that fix this all over town."

In seconds, they had all gathered their weapons and the Necronomicon and piled into the car outside, re-energized by the existence of a plan. As soon as they had pulled onto the road, however, the side and rear view mirrors lit up, blinding Amber with the reflected light.

"What the hell is that?" she asked in shock, squinting.

"Umm…" Jared peered over his shoulder through the back window. "It looks like a bunch of jeeps. They've got floodlights mounted on the roofs."

"The military, maybe?" Ashley ventured.

"I guess someone had to notice," Ash mused. "For once." The deep growl of a powerful, all-terrain vehicle grew, easily overwhelming the whine of the hybrid car as it pulled alongside them. A man wearing a dark green helmet and fatigues glared across at them before passing. The jeep fell into a position just in front of the hybrid, while four identical jeeps flanked it, two on either side.

Amber squinted again as the headlights of a sixth jeep closed in a few feet behind them. "What are they doing?"

"Boxing us in," Ash replied. "They must have met some, uh, civilians on their way in. They're not trusting anyone."

"What do we do?" Amber asked.

"Follow their lead," Ash said. "If they decide to kill us, there's not much we can do about it."

The cavalcade of military vehicles kept on the same route into town that the group had already retraced earlier. Just outside the epicenter of the town they passed into the bustling hub of a temporary army base. Over a dozen tents were already set up, and a few more were in the process of being erected on the outskirts. Soldiers who looked like they were barely out of high school patrolled, looking unnerved.

The jeeps pulled to a stop, keeping Amber directly between them, not giving the slightest room for her to escape. Impossibly fast, soldiers came pouring out of the six vehicles, aiming assault rifles at the hybrid in the centre.

"Get out of the car, now!" the one with the most stripes on his uniform bellowed.

Amber, Ashley and Jared looked at Ash, hoping for reassurance. Ash just stared back at them, not particularly excited about the situation, before he opened the car door and stood. Everyone else followed his lead.

"Drop any weapons you might be carrying and raise your hands over your head!" the same soldier commanded.

With a few thumps, guns and bladed weapons fell to the grass, and Ashley, Amber and Jared raised their hands in the universal gesture of surrender. Ash looked down at the chainsaw attached to his wrist.

"Shit," he grumbled, raising one hand.

"Sir," the soldier barked, "Drop the weapon!"

"I can't!" Ash yelled back. "It's attached!"

There was a moment of silence.

"It's a chainsaw," the soldier pointed out.

"Doesn't change the fact that it's attached," Ash said.

The soldier in charge looked over at one of his cohorts. There was some harsh whispering back and forth.

"If it helps, I can't turn it on without my other hand," Ash lied.

There were a few more whispers. "Can you take it off?" the soldier finally asked.

"I'd prefer not to, given the situation," Ash answered.

"This is a military base. If you do not willingly disarm, we will consider you a threat."

"Fine," Ash sighed. "I need to use my other hand though," he said, waggling his left hand, still in the air.

"Alright, make any move to use the chainsaw and you're dead," the soldier told him. "Clear?"

"Clear," Ash replied, quickly loosening the straps and letting the chainsaw drop to the ground.

The soldier in charge nodded and jerked his rifle, indicating a path between the jeeps blocking them in. "Proceed forward towards the tent over there," he ordered. "Leave your weapons."

Uncertain, Ashley, Amber and Jared looked at Ash. He shrugged in response and walked forward, leading them where the soldier had directed. The soldiers followed, watching them closely. They made a beeline for one of the largest tents as military personnel, engaged in other tasks and ignoring them, swarmed everywhere.

Inside the tent were rows of cots. Less than a dozen people sat on scattered beds with blankets draped around their shoulders. Some sipped on black coffee in Styrofoam cups.

"Alright," the soldier behind them said, "there are medics here who will give you anything you need. You'll be safe here."

With that, the soldiers disappeared through the tent flap, leaving them.

"What is this?" Amber asked.

"They're refugees, I think," Jared replied.

"Jesus," Ashley breathed. "Is this everyone they could find?"

"Hey, wait a second!" Ash exclaimed before bursting out of the tent, chasing after the soldiers. "Hold on!"

"Sir, get back in the medical tent," the soldier told him. "This is a military operation."

"Yeah?" Ash asked. "How's that been going so far?"

"I'm asking you to get back in the tent, sir," the soldier responded.

"This isn't something you can fix by shooting at it," Ash said. "I tried that, believe me."

"Sir, you need to get back in the tent, now!"

"What are you gonna do, shoot me?"

"What if I did?" the soldier challenged.

"For one thing, it would probably be better than waiting in a tent to die while you guys just make things worse," Ash shrugged. Behind him, Amber, Ashley and Jared peeked out from the medical tent, wondering what he was doing.

"What's going on over here?" another voice broke in.

Ash turned to see an approaching army officer with the name Martin emblazoned on his fatigues. "Are you in charge?" Ash asked dubiously.

"I wasn't talking to you," Martin replied before focusing on the soldier. "Why are there civilians running around my camp?"

"Sir, he won't return to the medical tent, sir," the soldier responded promptly, saluting.

"Why not?"

"Because you're doing this all wrong," Ash answered.

"I'm still not talking to you," Martin growled.

"Sir, he says we're making things worse, sir," the soldier responded again.

Martin nodded before turning to Ash. "Have you ever led a military operation?" he asked patronizingly.

"Depends," Ash answered. "Do a bunch of knights count?"

Martin scoffed. "What you do at the local Renaissance fair isn't the point, shit for brains. This is an actual military operation, and the advice of some townie with no training is worth less than nothing to me." Abruptly, Martin turned and strode away.

"They're not dying, right?" Ash called after him. "Even if you shoot them in the head so many times they don't even have a head anymore, they just keep coming. Were you trained for that?"

Without turning, Martin called back, "Were you?"

"No, but I've survived it before."

Martin hesitated and looked over his shoulder, appraisingly. Seconds later, he continued walking. "I don't have time for this shit," he said. "Bring him to Heidegger, and he can figure out if this guy's a nut or not."

The soldier paused, his mouth agape. "This way, sir," he finally said.

"Finally," Ash rolled his eyes. He motioned to Ashley, Amber and Jared, still watching through the tent opening. "Come on."

"Our orders were only to take you," the soldier pointed out, shaking his head.

"Do I look like I care about your orders?" Ash asked. "They're coming with me, or you're explaining to your superior officer over there why you didn't do what he said."

"Fine," the soldier sighed. "Let's get these assholes off our hands," he told the rest of his troupe before leading them further into the camp.

* * *

Guys, literally everything I know about the military comes from movies :P


	9. Chapter 9

"I told you," a thin bald man in fatigues with a red cross around his arm said, his back facing the entrance of the tent, "I don't need any more interruptions."

The group had just crossed the threshold of one of the smallest tents, set up at the very center of the camp. Maps of the town, criss-crossed by red lines and marred by notes, were hung up on every available bit of wall-space. Tables covered in notebooks, medical supplies and a few vials of blood lined the outside of the tent. The only person inside was the man who had just condescendingly greeted them.

"Sir, Colonel Martin sent us here, sir," one of the soldiers replied. "These civilians say they have information for you."

"Colonel Martin?" the man said over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. He sighed. "I suppose I'll have to see what they have to say. Dismissed."

The soldiers snapped into a salute before quickly disappearing.

"I'm Lieutenant Heidegger," the man introduced himself, turning around and leaning back on the table behind him, crossing his arms. For a moment he looked them up and down, assessing them. "I take it you've seen what's going on first hand," he observed.

"Yeah," Ash answered, "but the important thing is that I've seen this before."

Heidegger's eyes narrowed skeptically. "Really?" he asked.

Ash nodded. "Years ago."

"I'm pretty sure I would know if one of these outbreaks had happened before this."

"It was isolated. I was the only survivor." Ash shrugged. "No one ever believed me."

"Is that so?" Heidegger cocked his head. "In that case I may have to get a blood sample. You might be immune."

"Immune?" Ash repeated. "Does this look like some kind of disease to you?"

"Actually, yes, that's exactly what it looks like. Why, what do you think it is?"

"Demonic possession."

Heidegger let out a short burst of laughter before he saw the grave look on Ash's face. "Oh, you're serious," he said, trying to suppress his mirth. "I realize to a layman this must look incomprehensible, but I assure you, there is a rational explanation."

"Oh yeah?" Ash replied. "I assure you, if you live long enough, you'll find out I'm right." He turned to Amber. "Show him the book," he told her.

"Uh, sure," she said, stepping up to Heidegger's table and setting down the thick stack of pages from the Necronomicon among the rest of the notes with a thump.

"That charming little picture book there," Ash started, pointing, "is the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. It contains the words that started this, but it can end it too. We just have to get to the radio station and read it over the air waves."

"For what it's worth," Ashley started, "I know how crazy this sounds. We all do. But we don't have time to argue about it."

"You know how crazy you sound?" Heidegger asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Because it seems like you think I should just accept what you say as truth." Flipping through the pages lackadaisically, he sighed. "So, how, pray tell, do you know these people are possessed?"

"Well, for one thing, sick people don't usually hover," Jared offered.

"And even if they go crazy, people don't keep trying to kill you if their head is missing," Ash added.

"And I don't think I've ever heard of a disease that jumps to dead animals," Ashley continued. "Especially taxidermied ones."

"You've been through a traumatic experience," Heidegger answered. "It's only natural that you'd be confused."

"We're not gonna get anywhere with these people," Ash groaned, throwing up his hand. "This guy hasn't even seen what's going on."

"Haven't seen what's going on?" Heidegger repeated. "I not only know what's happening, I have a specimen."

"What, you mean all these blood samples?" Ash laughed. "You think that'll tell you what it's like when one of these things comes after you?"

Heidegger heaved a sigh. "Look, you've been through a lot. That and the fact that you may have some useful reconnaissance for me is why I've been patient so far. But what you think you saw is getting us nowhere."

"I know what I saw," Ash replied.

There was a long pause as Ash and Heidegger tried to stare each other down. Finally, Heidegger pushed himself away from the desk, standing straight. "I have something to show you," he said, striding out of the tent. Ash and the rest followed.

They walked across the grass outside to a wide open area, about twenty feet across, surrounded by flood lights. In the centre was a closet-sized circle of drapes. As they approached, something inside hit the fabric, rattling the metal support bars. Soldiers milled around, casting uncertain glances towards the curtains.

Martin, standing near the middle of the circle, looked up, noticing Heidegger. "Are we ready?" he asked, before his eyes moved back to Ash. "Did you get any more intel?"

"Not much," Heidegger answered. "I think we'll get more data when we have them commenting on a…" he searched for words. "Living specimen."

Nodding once, Martin replied, "Right," before pulling back the curtain.

The rings holding the drape up shrieked as they ran across the metal bar. The sound was met by a clatter of chains as they strained against stakes driven deep into the ground. A low, demented giggle bubbled up from cracked lips dripping with black blood.

"Dylan!" Ashley gasped.

"Hey babe," Dylan rasped in response. He licked his lips with a tongue that seemed just slightly too long. His skin was still a decaying grey, now tinged with green and peeling in places. The black streaks on his arm had grown into deep furrows, revealing pulsing arteries and sliding tendons. "Miss me?"

Not noticing Ashley, Martin stepped in front of Dylan. "This is what we're dealing with," he announced to the soldiers. "The most obvious thing is the skin. The infected look dead."

From the back of the crowd of soldiers, someone shouted, "We're gonna bag us some zombies!"

"I want to make it clear," Heidegger called out, "these are not zombies. This is some kind of disease. Our job is to contain it until we can find a cure."

"Anyone shooting these people unnecessarily," Martin added, "will be court martialed. Understand?"

"Hooah!" the soldiers yelled in unison.

With another rattle of chains, Dylan darted forward, pulling his restraints taut and yanking his arms behind his back.

"That said," Martin continued, "do not, I repeat, _do not_ underestimate these things. They are stronger and tougher than you think. Understand?"

"Hooah!" the soldiers yelled again.

Suddenly, thick, black blood spurted to either side of Dylan as he lunged forward, wrenching his arms out of their sockets. Leaping forward, he plunged his teeth deep into Martin's neck. As Martin let out a scream, blood welled up from his jugular, spilling out over his uniform in a quickly spreading stain.

For a moment the soldiers didn't react, too shocked to know what to do. Then the entire front row of troops leveled their guns, took aim, and fired. Most of them managed to hit Dylan's head, quickly disintegrating it with the sheer number of projectiles. A scattering of bullets hit Martin's neck, shoulder and head in a random ring around Dylan's teeth. Both Martin and Dylan were blasted back, landing on the grass behind them.

"Hold fire!" Heidegger screamed desperately.

The gunfire tapered off. The two bodies lay still and silent on the ground, before Martin's, on top, shifted. A leg kicked out, and Martin's body rolled off as Dylan struggled out from underneath. He managed to force himself to his knees before standing, despite the fact that his upper torso ended in a ragged mess of twisted flesh.

"Huh. Now that you've pointed it out," Ash said thoughtfully, "that really does look like it's just a sick person."

"Shut up," Heidegger retorted, pulling his gun. As Dylan's headless corpse stumbled forward, he commanded, "Stay back!"

"He doesn't even have ears," Jared pointed out.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because that was the dumbest thing about this." He strode over to Dylan, put his hand on Dylan's chest, and shoved him to the ground. "What's he even gonna do? Bleed on us?"

Just then, there was an ear-piercing screech of metal against metal. Every light in the camp exploded, sending the base into darkness. Ash, Jared, Ashley and Amber clustered together, keeping close.

"What's going on?" someone called.

"Why aren't the emergency lights coming back up?" another asked.

There was another crash of metal, then a rending sound, as if the earth was being pried apart. The hum of panicked voices whispering filled the silence after, until it was interrupted by a scream from the periphery of the camp. From the same direction came the retort of an assault rifle, then another scream, slightly nearer.

From almost the opposite direction, a hissing whine like locusts was greeted by gunfire. Bursts of shots exploded and went silent sporadically throughout the encampment. Ash peered into the darkness, trying to see what was happening, but after the blinding intensity of the flood lights, his eyes refused to adjust.

Nearby, there was cry of shock. Fire flashed out of the muzzle of a gun. In the strobe effect, Ash saw talons attached to long fingers and blood and flesh arcing through the air.

"Run! Now!" Ash yelled, putting distance between him and the most obvious threat.

"Where?" Jared yelled back.

"To the car!" Ash called over his shoulder, already dashing away.

"It's blocked in!" Amber reminded Ash as she followed.

"Weapons!" Ash tersely replied.

He hurtled forward, blindly throwing himself through inky blackness. A series of flashes to his left momentarily lit a wide grin stretched across sharp teeth inches from his face.

Ash stumbled to his right, dodging past the now invisible thing in front of him. Behind him, Jared staggered, tripping on a corpse. He held his hands out to catch him and felt cold metal. With a heave of effort, he ripped the gun out of the bloodless fingers clenching it to a still chest and kept running.

Barreling into a solid mass in front of her, Ashley was suddenly brought to an abrupt halt. The full moon silhouetted the shape of a huge, muscular man in front of her. She stepped away, about to resume her flight, when the man shadowed her movement, menacingly closing the small distance between them.

"I – I'm sorry," she stammered, trying to apologize until the man swiftly grabbed for her neck. She shrieked and jumped backwards, colliding with Amber, and the two tumbled to the ground. Papers flew everywhere, fluttering down like a flurry of snow. The man, his fatigues torn and bloody around his arms, loomed over them. In the pale moonlight, the slightest shadow of a smile was visible.

The man coiled to attack. Amber and Ashley tensed. Thunder shattered the air above their heads, and the man's chest was opened up by a hail of bullets, his liquefied organs spraying out behind them. He fell backwards in a wet thump. Ashley looked over her shoulder to see Jared holding an assault rifle.

"Get up, we need to go!" he shouted.

Ashley stood, but even as the man began to twitch and fight his way to his feet, Amber kneeled. "We need the Necronomicon," she said, her voice trembling as she forced her hands to stop shaking enough to gather the pages.

"Guys, listen," Ashley hissed, looking around nervously.

"What?" Jared asked. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly."

Amber paused, her hand outstretched for another page. They all stopped breathing. The camp had gone silent. Not a single scream or shot was audible. The raging battle which had previously pierced the air was dead.

There was the snap of a twig, and three sets of eyes darted to where it had come from. Another rustle came from behind them, and the hiss of fabric from in front. As one, they realized: they were surrounded.


	10. Chapter 10

From all around them, grass crunched. Ashley, Jared and Amber couldn't see a thing in the blackness, but they could hear something – several somethings – closing in on them.

"Where's Ash?" Amber whimpered.

Ashley shook her head, realizing that Amber couldn't see her, but her throat felt closed and her mouth dry, rendering her unable to speak. Jared held his rifle up, ready to fire, although not sure where he should aim.

Around them, the shuffling of feet on ground became more obvious, more confident. A demented chuckle came from somewhere nearby, too quiet to pinpoint, but menacing in the silence.

A low growl from behind seemed to be matching the possessed laughter, until it grew louder into a rattling whine. The whine muffled momentarily as its owner, a chainsaw, plunged into a shoulder, ripping through the joint with ease. A second later, something heavy landed at Ashley's feet. She knelt to find an assault rifle like the one Jared had commandeered.

"C'mon!" Ash yelled, shoving his chainsaw through another of their attackers, clearing a path for them. "Get moving!"

Ashley glanced at Amber, who quickly gathered the last of the pages she'd dropped, before following the sound of Ash's voice. She stopped near where she thought their attackers had circled them and turned, firing a spray of bullets, keeping the opening clear. Amber stood, darting through the breach, and Jared followed.

In one fluid movement, Ash pulled his chainsaw out of one of the things hunting them, tearing its head clean from its body, and turned to run. "This way!" he directed the rest of the group, leading them further from the centre of the camp.

Their eyes now adjusted enough to make out Ash, Ashley and Jared followed, keeping Amber just ahead and between them. Amber barreled forward, off-balance from her inability to use her arms as she clutched papers to her chest. She veered right as a screech came from her left, something human-shaped yet somehow galloping on all fours easily closing in on her.

Barely breaking stride, Jared sped up, putting himself between Amber and the thing. He pointed his rifle, taking a long moment to aim at the fast approaching, barely distinguishable shadow. The edges of the shape appeared hazy, the dark frame of the thing blending in with the blackness of the field. Squinting, Jared decided where he thought the centre of the body mass of monster racing towards them was located, and hoped he was right. He aimed carefully and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Jared's eyes widened as the thing crossed the few feet left between them and reared up. Teeth and eyes flashed in the full moon. Desperate, Jared clasped the barrel of the gun and swung as hard as he could, bringing the rifle's butt into the thing's nose with the wet crack of bones shattering. Something wet, thick and cold splattered onto his hands and forearms as the former human staggered back, furiously shaking its head.

"I'm out!" Jared called as the thing in front of him regained its footing and focused on him before falling back into the blackness. Its shadow quickly began growing larger again, its hands and feet noisily ripping apart grass and dirt.

"Here!" Ashley called back, tossing her assault rifle to Jared.

He caught it a foot from his face and whirled. Squeezing the trigger again, he let loose a hail of bullets. The rifle slammed into Jared's shoulder, punching him with each bullet it released, as the projectiles tore through the darkness in front of him. An inhuman howl came back, deafening even over the sound of gunfire.

Jared turned back, facing forward as he kept running. Moments later a quick yelp from Ashley pierced his ears. He glanced to the side to see an arm reaching for her.

"Here!" he shouted to Ashley, holding the assault rifle at arm's length. Keeping her eyes on the thing menacing her, Ashley's arm reached for the gun uncertainly, slowly. In front of them, the chainsaw roared again, and Jared yanked his arm back for balance as he hurdled over a fallen limb, the cold steel whispering through Ashley's fingers.

Ashley screamed again, covering her face with both arms protectively as she shied left. Jared could just make out a mouth, wide and slavering, easily keeping pace. He thrust the rifle towards her again, keeping it as steady as he could manage. "Take it!" he told her urgently.

Without hesitation, Ashley grabbed the gun, snatching it from Jared's hands before jamming the barrel into the gaping maw beside her. Flame and bullets exploded through the back of the thing's head, shredding it to pieces, as the air thundered with the sound of shooting.

Jared watched, ready to jump in if it looked like the rifle wasn't enough. His feet moved automatically across the grass, not needing the visual input to keep steady, until he felt something solid slam into his whole body. A short shockwave of pain raced through him, and he was thrown to the ground. Jared jumped to his feet instantly, holding his fists in front of him, ready to fight back.

"Calm down there, sport," Ash said from his right.

With a quick glance, Jared saw that Ash was standing calmly a few feet away. Peering more deeply into the darkness, he discerned Amber and Ashley, also stopped, a bit further from him. He also was able to make out Ash's look of derision. Jared looked in front of him to see what had collided into him, only to find that he had collided with a parked car.

"Right," Ash said, shaking his head, "Spread out and look for a car with a key, take any weapons you find." He turned to try the door of the nearest car, only to turn back around when he didn't hear anyone leaving. Three blank stares greeted him. "We need a car to get to town," he urged them. "There's dozens here, one of them's gotta have a key. Chop chop!"

With a start, Ashley, Jared and Amber headed off in different directions, trying the doors of the military Jeeps further down the line. The heavy clicks and rattles of car doors refusing to open punctuated the night. Off in the distance, screeches echoed, some getting closer.

"We don't have much time," Amber said.

"Uh, guys," Jared started, pulling futilely on another door handle, "I'm pretty sure, if I were the army, I'd keep all the keys in one place or something."

"Shit," Ash replied.

"Any guesses where they might be?" Ashley asked.

"Nope," Jared answered.

"Then keep trying," she said, leaning back as she tugged on another door. Unexpectedly, she fell backwards as the door popped open, a corpse spilling out onto her. "Got one!" she called cheerfully as she rolled the fatigue-clad body off of herself.

"Wait, seriously?" Jared responded, jogging over to her.

Ashley stood, double-checking the ignition for the key. Smiling in relief to find it there, she turned to Jared. "Yeah, seriously," she said, starting the car. The engine easily revved to life, and the enormous headlights lit a cone in front of the vehicle like day.

"Nice," Ash said, strolling up to the jeep, Amber trotting beside him. "Let's blow this banana stand."

"Hold it!" a voice called from the darkness. They all turned to see Heidegger, limping unsteadily and brandishing a handgun. Long gashes were raked across his face, and one eye socket was dark and empty and spewing blood. His remaining eye was wide and crazed.

"I don't know who you people are," he said as he reeled forward. "But we were secure until you showed up."

"Listen you crazy bastard," Ash growled. "No one's secure. Not until we end this."

Above Ash's head, one of the floodlights mounted on the jeep burst, raining glass onto the roof of the car, as Heidegger fired. The kickback sent his gun, already wobbling, pointing at the sky as he struggled weakly to control it. He lowered it again, slowly, shakily trying to aim it at the group.

Ash hadn't even finished saying, "Get in the car," before everyone had scrambled for the door handles or started climbing into the cab. Ashley and Jared were still trying to disentangle their legs from each other as Ashley hit the gas, bringing the military vehicle into first gear and swerving around Heidegger.

"What the hell's wrong with that guy?" Amber cried, looking over her shoulder.

"He did just see a bunch of guys he was in charge of get ripped to shreds," Jared offered.

"Yeah, well, we were there too," Ash answered, "And you don't see us whining about it."

The Jeep rode easily over the slightly uneven field, its four-wheel drive making it almost as smooth as if it were on a road. Every so often it jolted and bounced as they drove over a rock or a body. In front of them, the beaming headlights revealed demolished tents grass stained red.

Suddenly there was a loud _thud_ just above everyone's heads, followed by a _clank_ as huge black talons pierced the roof of the Jeep like it was butter. They instantly curled, getting so tight a grip on the vehicle that they crimped the metal. Rivets popped and squealed in protest as the claws began to pull slowly, but relentlessly at the roof.

"What the fuck is that?" Ashley screamed, tempted to look back but afraid to take her wide eyes off the area immediately in front of them.

"Just keep driving," Ash told her, whipping his shotgun out of the holster strapped to his back.

The metal of the Jeep's roof gave way slightly, and a fold turned into a crease turned into a tear which extended easily as the black talons kept ripping. The hand the claws were attached to clenched into a fist, and the metal crinkled like tinfoil. A wide gash began opening to show pitch black sky above.

A round yellow eye the size of a baseball appeared in the slit. The pinprick pupil, rimmed in red, raced over the entire surface of the eye in fits and starts, its vision spastically sweeping over the occupants of the car. Its inspection fell on Ash.

"What're you lookin' at?" Ash smirked, pointing the shotgun directly at the eye and firing.

There was an inhuman howl of rage and agony and a sound like nails on a chalkboard as the creature's nails grasped for a grip on the Jeep. The car leapt forward as the thing's weight fell off and rolled into the field. A few bumps later and the Jeep began flying smoothly along paved road.

From the darkness, Heidegger watched the tail lights of the car disappear in the distance. He snarled and flipped his satellite phone open, punching numbers before he held it up to his ear.

"Quarantine the area," he said into the phone. "And send me everything we can mobilize and have here within an hour."

* * *

lol, literally everything I know about the military comes from movies. Can you tell?


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: for best results, you may want to listen to Bullet by Hollywood Undead while reading this chapter :P

* * *

"Well that was fun," Ash snorted.

"Least we got this sweet ride out of it," Jared replied.

"Yeah," Ashley cut in, a huge grin on her face as she pushed the accelerator to the floor. "Who's gonna stop us now?"

"Don't jinx it," Ash groaned.

"Jinx what?" Amber asked. "As if this could possibly get any – "

Amber's next words were cut off as Ash covered her mouth. "No," he told her. "Just… no."

Amber remained silent, but pouted as they turned into the town proper. The Jeep practically leapt off the road as its huge tires crushed a garbage can. Ashley slowed, weaving between cars strewn over the deserted street. Like boots on snow on a cold day, the crunch of glass on the pavement echoed through the wheels and into the car.

"Forget anyone trying to run us off the road again," Ashley said as the Jeep ponderously made its way over the contents of an overturned dumpster, "I don't think we could even drive a regular car around here anymore."

"We did kind of luck out, if you think about it," Amber agreed. "We'd have to get out and walk by now."

"Yeah, yeah," Ash scoffed, "Everything's comin' up roses."

"Speaking of," Jared started, "What's our Plan B?"

Reflexively, Ash smacked the back of Jared's seat, slamming it against the back of his skull. "Don't jinx Plan A, for one. This is gonna work."

"How?" Jared asked, warily leaning out of Ash's reach. "We're supposed to read the book where it was read the first time. That's not the radio station, that's all the radios that were tuned to that station."

"So?"

"So this whole thing assumes all those radios are still on, first of all."

"Who's gonna turn them off?" Ash shrugged. "Almost everyone's dead."

"We're also assuming we can figure out how to broadcast the incantation," Jared said, counting points on his fingers.

"How hard can it be?"

"And lastly, we're assuming the radio station can still broadcast. What if there's no power, or the antenna's broken?"

"Ah," Ash mused. "Then we're fucked."

"What?" Jared asked in shock.

"Well, what did you expect me to say?"

"Uh, guys," Ashley interrupted, flipping on the radio. "We can always double-check that last point."

The radio let out a quiet stream of static that waxed and waned as Ashley turned the knob, flying through different frequencies. Suddenly a blast of sound crescendoed and faded in the span of half a second. Slowly, Ashley went back, searching the airwaves by ear as she kept her eyes on the road. For a moment there was just a long buzz, but as she moved the dial another millimeter and sporadic tones came through.

Another millimeter and the tones morphed into a tune. Ashley paused, her hand hovering over the dial as the huge metal skeleton of the radio tower appeared behind the shops of the main street. Even as they grew nearer to the music's source, the sound grew fainter and fainter before disappearing.

The jeep turned onto the radio station's road. Beneath the radio antenna, the glass façade of the station was easily visible, lit from inside by a soft light. The car crept towards it in the silence.

"I-is…" Ashley stammered, "Is that it then? The signal's dead."

No one responded for a long moment.

"This is Apocalypse Radio!" a chipper, enthusiastic male voice suddenly blared from the speakers. "Playing all the hits the station managers wouldn't let me air before they died gruesomely!"

"What the hell?" Ash muttered, leaning forward.

"Why couldn't I air this stuff, you ask?" the voice continued. "You might say the radio station was paid to play more 'commercial' fare. You might even say that the FCC wouldn't approve of all the fucking swearing." The voice paused before adding in a thoughtful tone, "Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure the reason I couldn't play these tunes is 'cause I work in the coffee shop downstairs. Oh well, I'll be making sure you face the End of Days with a smile and a catchy tune!"

The feed went silent for a fraction of a second before a muted acoustic guitar came over the airwaves in a quick, cheerful tune. _"My legs are dangling off the edge,"_ an equally cheery voice sang, _"The bottom of the bottle is my only friend…"_

"Well, that answers that question," Ashley grinned as the music blared. The jeep pulled up to the curb outside the radio station and she parked, abruptly cutting off the song. "Not only is the station broadcasting, there's someone there who can help us."

"Yeah," Ash replied as he stepped out of the car. "And that 'someone' sounds totally insane."

They strode up to the front entrance. Ash jerked on the clear glass door, but it only rattled, locked. Without hesitation, Ash grabbed his shotgun and barely heard Amber cry, "Wait!" before he fired. The door momentarily went opaque with a network of cracks before it gave way, separating into a million pieces and dropping down like water into a puddle on the floor and sidewalk.

The same happy tune spilled out, now with an added beat and chimes. _"I'll put a bullet in my head and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone,"_ the joyful singer continued.

Amber sighed. "The ID badge you got at Absinthe would've opened the door," she told Ash.

"It looks pretty open to me," Ash retorted.

"That made a bit too much of an entrance," Jared said slowly, looking through the empty pane. Ash followed his gaze into the huge atrium of the radio station's lobby. Beyond the front desk and the glass staircase behind it were several darkened hallways. Shuffling footsteps and shadows began emerging from the corridors.

"You guys didn't happen to grab any weapons back there, did you?" Ash asked hopefully.

"Uh…" Jared answered.

"Um…" Amber joined in.

"Shit," Ashley concluded.

"You're right," Ash smirked, replacing the spent shell in his gun, "This really is the sort of thing best left to grown-ups." He pulled the rip cord, firing up the chainsaw, and stepped through the opening, his shoes grinding shattered glass into a fine powder. Immediately, he was greeted by a chorus of low growls, audible even over the music.

Shadows resolved themselves into three hunched people. One hobbled, dragging a bent and broken lower leg behind it. The second was missing an arm, clasping the one that remained around its middle, holding organs inside. The third was missing its lower jaw. Despite their injuries, their eyes and movement were laced with evil intent.

Above, the speakers suspended from the walls chirped, _"I gotta take this opportunity before I miss it, 'cause now I hear the sirens, and they're off in the distance…"_

Ash charged forward, past the front desk. Holding the shotgun pointed straight out to his left, he pulled the trigger as he flung the chainsaw up in front of him. As an arm flew upwards in a high arc, cracked and bloody lips twisted into a snarl, unheard over the **boom-splat** of the shotgun throwing blood and chunks of tissue into the wall behind. As the creature in the middle lost its remaining arm, a slew of intestines and torn lumps of flesh sluiced out onto the floor.

_"Believe me when I tell you that I've been persistent, 'cause I'm more scarred, more scarred than my wrist is…"_

His arm with the chainsaw attached still heading upwards, Ash abruptly changed direction, bending his arm to ram his elbow into an eye socket to his right. As the thing staggered, he whipped his arm away before swinging it back in the same direction, the blade of the chainsaw slicing its head in half.

_"I've been trying to long with too dull of a knife, but tonight I made sure that I sharpened it twice…"_

Darting back, Ash brought his shotgun up again and fired into the chest of his rightmost adversary. Its ribcage was blown open, forcing the neck and attached ears to fall back slightly like a hinged lid opening a crack. His ammo used, Ash vaulted over the front desk, putting an obstacle between himself and his still approaching attackers.

_"I've never bought a suit before in my life, but when you go to meet God, you know you wanna look nice…"_

Watching Ash disappear behind the front desk, Ashley grabbed Jared and Amber's arms.

"C'mon!" she whispered urgently, tugging at them, "There's gotta be something we can use as weapons in the Jeep." Jared and Amber, already far from resisting her pulling in the opposite direction of three demon-possessed corpses, turned and jogged with her to the car to search the trunk.

_"So if I survive then I'll see you tomorrow, yeah I'll see you tomorrow…"_

Ash crouched, his back pressed to the sturdy oak of the desk. With a forceful jerk, he flicked the gun open on the hinge pin, exposing the twin chambers. Momentarily inverting the shotgun, he let the empty shells fall out before flipping it back over and grasping it to his chest with his chainsaw. Listening to the footsteps edging closer and closer, he rummaged in his pocket for shells.

_"My legs are dangling off the edge, the bottom of the bottle is my only friend…"_

"Got anything?" Ashley called to Amber and Jared as they inspected the car.

"Just the rifle from before," Jared replied. "But it's empty."

"I found a handgun!" Amber called cheerily, before adding less enthusiastically, "And a hand."

Ashley stood up from the floor of the backseat of the car, checking the situation in the radio station. Her eyes widened as she spotted two more scowling, snarling human bodies lurching towards the front desk, and she slammed the back door shut and threw herself into the driver's seat.

_"I think I'll slit my wrists again and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone…"_

The double barrel fully loaded, Ash stood and turned, one eye focused over the gun's sight with determination, ready to fire. His grip on the gun wavered; the muzzle lowered an inch as his gaze fell upon the greater number of former-humans closing in, and the troubling shadows still playing further down the corridors.

_"My legs are dangling off the edge, a stomach full of pills didn't work again…"_

There was an explosion of shards of glass and twisted sections of window pane as the Jeep thundered into the foyer, its front tires flying off the ground as it raced over the curb. The bumper bounced once as it crossed the entrance hall before slamming into two of Ash's adversaries, pinning them to the back wall, and crushing another underneath a huge tire.

As Ashley opened the door and started to step out of the vehicle, Jared and Amber raced inside through the path of destruction. Seeing Ash's less-than-relieved expression, Ashley looked back at the hallways leading away from the front desk to see more shapes emerging from the darkness.

_"I'll put a bullet in my head and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone…"_

Jared and Amber followed Ashley's gaze. Panic crossed their features as they glanced around. From the Jeep, Ashley knew from their faces that they were all thinking the same thing, that they were all wondering whether they should just run.

"Come up here!" the same voice they'd heard on the radio minutes ago urged over the music. As one, they all looked up at the ceiling, towards the speakers, before the frantic gestures of the DJ caught their eyes. He was waving at them frenetically from what appeared to be a glass cube set into the wall. The staircase behind the front desk, unenclosed by railings and embedded into the wall, led under the box before reaching the entrance.

While Ashley leapt from the Jeep to the counter of the desk, Ash bounded straight onto the fifth stair and continued up, taking the steps three at a time. Jared and Amber made for the narrow opening between the wall and front desk as Ashley followed Ash. The door at the top of the stairs opened just as Ash reached it. Amber and Jared hit the first steps and flew up after them. Within moments they were all inside the sound booth, suspended over the horde of vicious creatures.


	12. Chapter 12

"That," the DJ, wearing a Deicide T-shirt, started. "Was," he continued, his eyes glinting maniacally. "Awesome!" he finished, throwing his arms in the air and his head back, tossing long, greasy hair.

"It wasn't so fun from down there," Ash commented, looking around. Except for the glass wall facing the lobby, the rest of the sound booth was lined with what appeared to be carpeting. Another glass wall bisected the space. A hybrid of a desk and a mixing board abutted this wall, and a microphone rose up out of the equipment. A handgun sat on the other half of the room, separated by glass, was empty except for the huge microphone perched on a stand in the middle of the space.

"You have a chainsaw for a hand!" the DJ pointed out.

"Yup," Ash answered, irritated.

There was the thump of something slamming against the glass. The entire group jumped and turned to look behind them. The things that had attacked them outside had climbed the stairs, and were crowded next to the door. A smear of blood marked where a rotting and ravaged fist had hit the glass.

"Aw man," the DJ groaned. "Those guys were fine with ignoring me until your grand entrance." He shrugged, picking up a handgun from the desk beside him and pointing it at his head. "It was fun while it lasted, I guess."

"Wait!" Ash shouted, stopping him. "We have to broadcast something!"

"Knock yourselves out," the DJ replied, shrugging again.

"We need your help," Ash attempted again.

The DJ sighed. "What's the point? It's the end of the world!" The DJ gestured wildly with the gun, and everyone stepped back discreetly. "We're all gonna die anyways."

"We might be able to stop this," Ash said pleadingly. "All we need to do is read from that book," he pointed at the pages in Amber's arms, "And we can end this right now."

Gesturing with the gun again, the DJ responded with a smirk, "Ending this right now isn't much of a challenge."

"Isn't it worth a try?" Amber asked hopefully.

The DJ paused for a moment, thinking. One of the things outside pounded the glass again, and a hairline opened up, the white crack highlighted against the almost black blood. "I guess it could be fun," he conceded. "Surrounded by zombies, reading from a creepy, occult-looking book. Not a bad way to go out."

"I'm glad you could see reason," Ash answered sarcastically.

"Alright," the DJ continued, ignoring him and stepped over to the entrance to the other half of the room. Nodding at Amber, he held the door open for her. "Have at it."

Amber uncertainly drifted in the room, giving one hesitant glance back over her shoulder as the door closed behind her, not wanting to be separated from everyone else. The DJ sat down in front of the mixing board. He slowly brought one slider down, fading the music out.

"Alright, a big thanks to all our listeners tonight on our last night of broadcasting," the DJ said into the microphone smoothly. "It looks like we're almost done for the night," he continued as the banging on the glass door began producing a web of cracks, "But we've got some guests in the studio to help us go out. Stepping up to the mic, we got…" The DJ snapped and pointed at Amber.

Standing next to the microphone, Amber gaped through the glass wall for a moment before she caught on. "Uh, Amber," she stammered.

"We got the beautiful Amber and her dulcet tones," the DJ kept his patter moving. "Why don't you tell us a little bit about what you'll be performing tonight?"

"Um, well," Amber blinked, flustered. "I'm going to read from the Necronomicon – "

"Can we get on with it?" Ash interrupted.

Miles away, Heidegger heard Ash's voice faintly over the tank's radio and scowled.

Behind them, the steady beat against the glass suddenly ended with a crash. Looking behind him, Ash saw a hand, the skin sliced to ribbons by glass, protruding into the room. It pulled back, ripping a sheet of glass away with it.

"You heard him folks," the DJ said. "This is Amber and her dramatic reading of the Necronomicon." He pointed at Amber for a third time and she nodded once.

"En la nomo de Nyarlathotep kaj Azathoth," Amber began slowly, carefully enunciating each word. Like in the bar, the lights in the studio dimmed slightly.

The hole in the door was still growing. Two sets of fingers deliberately wrapped around the edges, heedless of the deep slashes to the palms that bubbled with black, tar-like fluid. A snarling face began pushing itself through the gaping fissure, letting out a low growl. Ash promptly blasted it with a face-full of pellets.

Her forehead knitting with worry, Amber sped up. "Mi ordonas la pordegoj de la Infero malfermi kaj gluti la tero malsupre por tiuj diabloj."

Every light in the building exploded.

"Was that it?" Ashley asked. "Is it over?"

Another growl answered her.

"Guess not," Ash replied.

Above them, there was a groan like a ship creaking in a storm. A second, louder, longer groan rent the air as the roof strained to stay in place. The shards of broken glass on the floor skittered, as if blown by the wind. The handgun slid along the length of the desk. It went off the edge, but instead of falling it flew straight up. As it clattered to the ceiling, everyone felt a tug upwards.

Ashley felt her long hair move away from her face, lifting, cascading up. "Umm," she said slowly, wanting to ask what was happening, but not sure what question needed to be voiced.

The groaning above turned into the shriek of metal against metal, and moonlight streamed into the recording booth through a tear in the lobby's roof. A corner of the roof flapped up like a piece of paper in the wind.

Suddenly the entire roof of the radio station was whipped away like cheap aluminum siding in a hurricane. Moonlight flooded the lobby. At the same time, everyone's hearts leapt into their throats and jolts of freezing adrenaline hit their stomachs as a feeling of weightlessness swept over them. The Jeep fell up into the sky.

The sensation of a free-fall ending with an abrupt stop as gravity reversed and everyone tumbled to the ceiling. The blue moonlight was overwhelmed by flickering reds and oranges. Ash climbed to his feet, warily creeping towards the glass wall of the recording booth, and looked down at the sky.

Beyond the yawning hole where the ceiling used to be, the twisted and crumpled metal frame of the antenna stretched in a crooked path to a ball of fire. The burning mass flared up once before dying down to a glowing ember before it ruptured. An abyss, black against the dark indigo sky, opened in the fire and spread outwards, the edges glowing red, like a hole burnt in a sheet of paper.

As Ash watched, the possessed bodies from the radio station lobby were sucked into the hole in the sky. He felt a moment of relief as he waited for the blackness to shut itself.

"What's going on?" Ashley asked, crouched on the ceiling and looking up at the floor distrustfully.

"This is a way cooler way to die!" the DJ laughed, pulling himself into a relaxed, cross-legged pose.

"I think…" Ash started, still looking at the sky, "I think we just need to wait this thing out."

There was a knock from the recording booth. Ash turned to see Amber, pressed against the glass, standing on the tips of her toes as she tried to reach the doorknob. Ashley hopped to her feet and bolted to the glass.

"Hold on, Amber, I'll get you out," she reassured her. She looked back at Jared. "Give me a boost," she said.

Too confused to speak, Jared followed Ashley, offering her his clasped hands. She planted a foot in his palms and he hoisted her up, where she grabbed the doorknob and pulled, letting the door swing free. "Come on!" she urged Amber, offering her hand. Amber grasped it, thankfully.

Ash was about to move towards them to help when a sound like thunder ripped through the air and shook the structure of the building. Stunned, Ash pivoted just in time to see a black shape reaching out of the sky and broken bricks and mortar crumbling in an upwards surge.

Another black shape lashed out from the sky like a whip. Ash jumped back from the glass as the long tendril flew towards the window. At the last minute a shudder went through it and it changed course, crashing through the glass on the other side of the recording studio. Ash shielded his eyes as most of the wall shattered inwards.

The tendril thrashed around the recording studio before it found something solid, Amber, and wrapped around her tightly. Amber's eyes widened in panic and she squeezed Ashley's hand as hard as she could.

"Don't let go," she pleaded as she was pulled back.

Ashley responded by grabbing onto Amber's wrist with her other hand. Jared managed to get his arms wrapped around Ashley before setting her down and seizing hold of Amber's arm.

A second black tentacle whipped through the air. This one undulated once before it smashed through the recording booth. Ash leapt back before the tendril swept through the room. As he jerked his arm, revving the chainsaw, it slammed down where he had just been standing.

The chainsaw roared as Ash slashed down, cutting a deep gash in the tentacle. Like it was in pain, it was snatched away, bringing with it a section of the ceiling between Ash and everyone else, as well as most of the right half of the DJ.

Amber whimpered in agony and fear as she stared at the blood smeared around the chasm. Ash took a deep breath, looking from Ashley and Jared to Amber to the wet, black tendril binding her. His eyes followed it down, past the radio antenna. He leaned out over the pane of broken glass, carefully examining the rubble below.

"Ash!" Ashley called over Amber's screams, "Help!"

Ash stepped forward and disappeared over the edge.

Ashley gasped. "Ash!" she screamed again. Her grip faltered for a moment, and Jared was almost pulled off his feet. He looked back to realize Ash was gone.

"We can't help him!" he told Amber. "We have to hold on!"

Ash's boot made contact with the metal girder that had once been part of the radio station's rafters and immediately slipped off. Panic flooded Ash's system as he realized he was falling too far, only to be replaced with pain as his arms and chin slammed into the metal. Only allowing himself to be stunned for a fraction of a second, Ash tensed, wrapping his arms around the rafter, clinging to the beam.

Ash pulled himself up an inch as he slipped backwards two. Desperate, he looked around, searching for more solid ground. The radio antenna, bent at strange angles, was less than a yard away from his right foot. Gingerly, he stretched his leg, reaching out with his foot for the antenna. With a jolt, he suddenly slipped another inch. His leg extended as far as it could go, his foot was only an inch away from the antenna.

Hooking the chainsaw on the girder and clutching the metal as hard as he could, Ash swung his leg back before throwing it forward. His heart skipped a beat as the metal slid completely out of his grip. Air rushed past his face as he fell. Ash screamed as he plummeted for what felt like ages until he came to a sudden stop.

Hanging freely Ash's eyes darted around to see what had happened. Below him the moon was enormous, but was now dwarfed by the still rapidly spreading hole. Above him his foot was hooked onto the antenna.

With effort, Ash strained to lift himself up. Grimacing, he managed to sit up, and grabbed on to one of the shafts of the antenna. He clambered upwards, climbing onto the metal scaffold. Slowly, carefully, he rose to his feet and ran quickly along the toppled antenna until he was next to the tentacle. Stabbing out, he plunged the chainsaw into the black flesh. The power tool ripped through the tendril, taking chunks out of it.

The tentacle lashed once and instantaneously retracted. It sliced into Amber where it had gripped her, cutting a deep spiral into the entire length of her body. As the ceiling crumbled where the tendril crashed through it, everything below Amber's chest fell away. Pages from the Neconomicon which had been clamped to her chest with her arms, freed, swirled after Amber's lower half in wide circles. A single tear ran down Amber's cheek as Ashley reluctantly let go, letting her friend fall away.

The tip of the tentacle spasmed again, knocking the antenna and knocking Ash off balance before it disappeared into the hole. Amber's body fell through a moment later. Ash stumbled, trying and failing to steady himself before he slipped into the abyss.

Like snow, the papers finally reached the hole, gently floating down into the darkness. As the last of them disappeared, the fissure collapsed in on itself, vanishing instantly.

* * *

Author's note:

Tentacles. Well, what do you expect to happen if you read from the Necronomicon?

Some of you guys might think this has gone way over the top, and I can totally see where you're coming from. But each Evil Dead movie is more over the top than the one before it, so I personally think this is a logical progression. Agree? Disagree? Leave a review and let me know!


	13. Chapter 13

Ashley and Jared laid on the floor where they had fallen when gravity had abruptly, unexpectedly returned to normal. The ceiling above them was almost completely gone, with only a few outcroppings around the edges and the twisted remains of the rafters, like the exposed skeleton of the building, wrenched up towards the sky.

Bruised and hurting, they stared up at the spot where the hole had opened up in the sky. Now, only stars were visible. The night was silent, except for their gasps of exertion.

"Ashley?" Jared finally asked.

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

"I'm alive," she answered.

"That's good."

They both went quiet again.

"Jared?" Ashley broke the silence again.

"Yeah?"

"Amber and Ash," she started. "They – " her words were choked off by a sob.

Jared paused. "Yeah," he eventually replied. He sat up. "We should get out of here," he told Ashley. "We need to get somewhere safe."

"Somewhere safe?" Ashley asked, also rising to look at Jared. "I think… I think it's over."

"So do I," Jared agreed. "But… Just in case."

After a moment's hesitation, Ashley nodded. "Let's go," she said as she stood.

They stepped through the broken door and carefully picked their ways down the stairs and through the lobby, both strewn with debris. Their breath fogged the air as the exited the building, a sharp breeze whipping down the street to make their skin tingle with the cold. The garbage and cars that had blocked the roads minutes ago were gone. In their place, the bricks from a collapsed building filled the street like the aftermath of an avalanche.

Ashley and Jared looked around, not sure where to go. Both ends of the road looked equally deserted, and neither looked promising. Finally they shared a glance, shrugged, and went right.

"Everyone's dead," Ashley said quietly.

"I know," Jared answered. "But we all fought to survive together. They'd be glad we made it."

"No, I mean, everyone's dead," Ashley repeated. "The whole town is dead. Almost everyone we knew." She swallowed hard. "All our friends. Our families – " Another sob wracked her frame.

"I know," Jared said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "I know. It'll be ok." They stopped walking, Ashley pressing her face into Jared's chest. Her tears cooled his skin through the fabric of his t-shirt.

After about a minute, she pulled away. "Sorry," she sniffled. "We should get out of here. We don't have time for me to go through the grieving process right now."

"Don't worry about it," Jared shook his head. "I – " He looked down and swallowed. "I know how you feel."

Ashley sighed and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "We should keep going."

Jared nodded in response and they both turned, continuing down the street. Ashley's hand slipped into Jared's, and he squeezed reassuringly. They walked in silence for a few blocks.

After a while, they passed the Movie Palace, a small local theatre. Its marquee was still lit a blazing white, advertising the three movies it was supposed to be showing tonight, its neon sign still an art deco rainbow.

Ashley pointed at the theatre. "Dylan and I went on our first date there," she said wistfully.

"I'm so sorry," Jared said, pulling his hand away. "I didn't want you to think – "

"I didn't think…" Ashley started, "I mean, I know you're not trying to make a move."

"I mean, I like you. I've always liked you," he babbled. "You probably knew that. Amber told me she told you once. I mean…"

"Jared," Ashley cut him off. "I know. It's ok."

"I – " Jared started again. "Ok. Sorry."

"It's ok."

Ashley reached for Jared's hand again. They shared the only warmth they felt, the heat of their palms pressed together, as the wind froze their exposed skin. Papers and plastic bags swept across the empty streets. A small local paper blew by, bits of gossip and news about people who no longer lived, the important concerns of the day before no longer existent.

The shops and businesses of downtown ended, giving way to houses and small apartments. Doors were still ajar, some rooms still lit. On one porch, an open piece of luggage lay on the ground, clothes spilling out of it and onto the lawn, abandoned forever.

Minutes later, even the houses disappeared. Well tended lawns and gardens were replaced by enormous, old-growth trees. Jared and Ashley paused, looking down the thin ribbon of road cut into the forest.

"This is gonna be a long walk," Jared said. "Isn't it?"

Ashley sighed. "Putting it off is just gonna make it take longer," she shrugged as she started off into the dark.

Jared echoed Ashley's sigh before he followed her lead. "At least it's peaceful out here."

"It's hard to have a problem with that, after everything."

They'd been walking for some time, lit only by the full moon, when long bright beams of light, separated by the shadows of trees, whipped across the road. "Are those…" Jared started.

"Headlights!" Amber finished as a car started to appear around the curve ahead. She ran forward a few steps, waving her arms to get the driver's attention. Close behind it, more cars appeared. The road began to rumble, like the beginnings of an earthquake.

"Ashley!" Jared called. "Wait!"

The first of the cars – Jeeps – began to slow. Bringing up the rear, the source of the rumbling – tanks – slowly came out from behind the trees. Ashley's arms dropped.

"These guys again," Jared moaned.

"Hey!" Ashley called to them. "Can you help us?"

Heidegger stepped out of the passenger side of the first Jeep, one side of his face covered in bandages. He glared at them. More soldiers began exiting the Jeeps around him.

"They're combatants!" he yelled to the soldiers, who raised rifles in response. "Shoot them," he ordered.


	14. Chapter 14

"Belay that order!" Another voice called from behind Heidegger. Another soldier, his insignia indicating he outranked Heidegger, calmly stepped forward. His uniform was emblazoned with the name James in thick block letters over the middle of his chest.

The rifles remained pointed at Jared and Ashley. They held their hands up nervously. The soldiers didn't fire, but they didn't waver either.

"These people," Heidegger spat, "Showed up just before we were massacred."

"I wasn't aware the United States Army had a history of shooting unarmed civilians," Heidegger's superior remarked dryly.

"Debatable," Jared noted under his breath.

"Shh," Ashley hissed back.

"The United States Army also doesn't have a history of whole platoons getting slaughtered by unarmed civilians," Heidegger shot back.

"Are you suggesting that these two kids," James motioned at Ashley and Jared, "Were responsible for that?" He looked at them appraisingly. "They don't look like hardened killers to me."

"Here's the situation," Heidegger started. "Almost everyone in the area is dead. The few living people we found attacked us mindlessly." He paused. "They kept coming at us, despite crippling injuries, injuries that should have killed them."

"So you keep saying."

"No one could have survived unless they were…" He hesitated again. "Unless they were infected."

"You survived," James pointed out.

"Barely!" Heidegger retorted vehemently, pointing at his bandaged face before motioning at Jared and Ashley. "They don't look too hurt."

Raising an eyebrow, James gave them another sizing up, taking in their ripped clothing, covered in sweat and dirt, and the myriad bruises and scratches on their arms and faces. "They don't exactly look fresh as daisies."

"Listen to what I'm telling you," Heidegger growled. "I know the situation because I was there! You weren't, so you can't accurately assess - "

"That's enough," James cut him off, drawing close to Heidegger and pulling himself to his full height, speaking right in Heidegger's face. "May I remind you that, not only are you not in charge here, but you are only here in your capacity as a living witness to provide intel?"

"But – "

"Furthermore, these two," James motioned back at Ashley and Jared, "Haven't said a word and they already seem more reliable than you. Any more insubordination and I'll be reporting this. Clear?"

Heidegger's jaw clenched and unclenched several times in quick succession. "Clear, sir," he finally answered before shooting a scowl at Ashley and Jared.

"Excellent," James replied flatly, then turned to Jared and Ashley. "You two will be riding with me. Come on." Abruptly, he pivoted and headed for one of the Jeeps.

Jared and Ashley gaped for a moment, taken aback. "We…." Jared started nervously. "We have to go back?"

"Well I can't very well leave you here, can I?" James called back without stopping.

"Actually, it turns out you can," Jared said. Beside him, Ashley started following James. "C'mon, seriously?" he asked her.

Ashley shrugged in response, forcing a smile. "It's over, right?"

Jared sighed. "Right," he agreed halfheartedly. Together they hopped into the back seat of another military Jeep, the engine already running, sitting behind James as another soldier put the car into drive.

"I know what the situation supposedly was an hour ago," James said when the car was in motion, placing extra emphasis on supposedly. "What's the most recent development?"

"Well – "

"We – " Jared and Ashley started at the same time. They both stopped, glancing at each other, both trying to will the other to go first. Finally, Ashley relented. "We think it's over," she answered.

"Over?" James repeated. "How?"

"Well – "

"You won't believe us," Ashley said, cutting Jared off.

"Try me."

Ashley took a deep breath. "Heidegger's right, it seems like regular people who are attacking, but they don't die, no matter what you do." She hesitated, steeling herself to say what she knew was true, although impossible. "I know how this is gonna sound crazy, but this started when someone I know – knew – " she corrected herself, "Read this spell from this ancient book and turned everyone into those… You know."

"Sure," James sighed, humouring her.

"But we managed to reverse it. And then the town was deserted and we pretty much just walked out of there," Ashley finished.

"I see," James answered. "So, I'll bite, if it was reversed, why is the town deserted? Shouldn't everyone be back to normal?"

"It wasn't like that," Jared shook his head. "When Amber – our friend – read the words, this… I don't know, this rift or portal or something opened up in the sky and sucked everything in."

"Right." James sighed again. "It looks like we've got some kind of drug or nerve agent being dispersed," he commented to the soldier driving. "All survivors seem to have experienced a shared hallucination somehow. It could be what made most of them violent."

"They're right about one thing," the driver responded, peering out the windshield. "This place is deserted."

Outside, there was no movement. The asphalt and sidewalks were immaculate, as if they had just been swept of the small amount of litter usually found in the town. Every window gaped at them, opening to the darkness inside the buildings, the glass gone except for a few stubborn shards stuck in the edges. Despite each window's shattered state, there was no debris.

Ahead, a street light hung at an odd angle, slightly uprooted. Inside a shop next to them, a fluorescent bulb buzzed as it flickered on and off.

"Deserted might be good," James mused. "It means the fighting's died down." He thought for another moment, before adding, "Or that they're planning an ambush."

As he addressed the small force using the radio, reminding them to be vigilant in case of an attack, the driver quietly asked, "But where are all the cars?"

James stopped speaking over the radio. As his hand left the switch, a momentary wail of torment exploded out of the speaker. For a second he stared at the radio in shock, before pressing the switch on and off rapidly for a few moments. "Did anyone else hear that?" he called over the radio. "Did you guys hear that?" he asked the car.

"Yes, sir," the driver responded, as Ashley and Jared quickly nodded assent.

"What the fuck?" James asked, still playing with the radio.

"It seems to be gone now," Jared said.

With a grunt of acknowledgement, James began navigating across the airwaves, listening for any sounds beyond the usual static. As the turned the knob, faint notes of the agony he'd heard before seemed to drift in and out, existing for a fraction of a second before vanishing just as quickly. A faint, high-pitched shriek seemed to appear and disappear. When James went back to a similar spot there was nothing.

Finally, a chorus of screams, sounding far off in the distance, came through the speakers. They grew in a perverse crescendo, more and more voices adding to the choir until it was nearly deafening. James spun the volume down to almost nothing, but the sounds of abject pain and misery still echoed in everyone's ears.

"What the hell is this?" James asked softly, frowning.

Ashley stared at the radio. "That frequency…" she muttered. "That's the frequency the local radio station uses."

Jared sighed. "Figures."

"What figures?" James demanded.

"You know how I told you we had to read some ancient evil incantations to stop all this?" Ashley asked.

"I don't recall you using the word evil," James replied uncertainly, "But go on."

"Well, we said the spell at the radio station where that sound is coming from," Ashley finished.

"Right," James nodded slowly. "We'll have to check it out. Where is this station?"

"Turn right just ahead and you'll be there," Jared answered. When James looked back at him, still uncertain, he shrugged and added, "It's a small town."

The Jeep turned right, and the radio station came into view. The antenna, still a twisted, blackened mess, pointed up. The sky around it was no longer empty, but instead filled with a roiling blackness that folded in and upon itself, laminated sporadically from within by bolts of lightning.

"Great," Jared commented as they stared up at the swirling storm.


	15. Chapter 15

Ash groaned as he strained to lift himself to a sitting position with one arm. Clutching at his head, he looked around. Lying on the red earth next to him was his chainsaw and shot gun. A few feet in front of him sat the military Jeep they'd ridden to the radio station, sitting on its back like an unfortunate tortoise. A small fire was flickering on its underside.

"Well," Ash said as he rose to his feet, "That's always a good sign." He stooped to pick up his shotgun and holstered it before retrieving the chainsaw and reattaching it. Only then did he look around.

The place where he and the Jeep had landed was the only clear patch of ground he could see. In an uneven circle around him, and stretching off apparently endlessly, jagged rocks jutted out of the ground, smooth, black and shiny as obsidian. The spaces between the rocks, small as they were, were crammed with long, silver shards of metal, all splattered with fresh blood. Above him the sky was black and starless, although a deep red light seemed to permeate everything. In the distance Ash could hear screams of agony, and in the same direction he saw a tall spire, ascending like a knife to stab the sky.

"Uh oh," he managed.

Ash swallowed hard. Most ways he could go were closed off by the terrain, but it looked like he could pick his way through in the general direction of the tower. With a sigh, he decided he couldn't see any other options and began walking.

"Is this Hell?" he wondered aloud as he trudged forward. "Am I dead?" He paused, thinking for a moment. "That would be just typical," he continued. "You die trying to save the world, and you get sent directly to Hell, don't pass Go, don't collect two-hundred dollars. And to top it all off…" He came to a dead stop, staring down at the chainsaw. "I didn't even get my hand back!" he called angrily to the empty sky.

There was no response. After a moment, Ash stepped forward, but then hesitated. There were sounds up ahead, growls and heavy footsteps. Ash ducked behind a rock, wedging himself as deep into a crevice as he could manage, hoping the dim light would not be enough to discern his shape.

The footsteps grew closer, mingling with scraping against the unyielding ground. Whispers brushed against Ash's ears, threats and complaints of never-ending hunger. The noises grew louder and louder, seeming to come from right next to Ash. He tried to shrink back further, sure there was something inches away, ready to attack.

Suddenly it all stopped. Everything went silent.

Ash looked at the path next to him. For a moment he thought whatever had been coming had decided to change direction, and he almost stood. Suddenly, something fluid and black came into view. It smoothly loped by. Ash made out the general shape of a huge dog, although it seemed to be made of living shadow. Two large, hulking beasts, their hands almost reaching the ground, lumbered after it.

"It was this way," a voice hissed, again seeming to come from inches from Ash's ear, although he could somehow instinctively tell it came from one of the creatures passing by.

"Living flesh," another voice added, its anticipation palpable.

_That's one question answered_, Ash thought with relief, _But I'm not sure if it makes the situation any better_. He watched them pass, waiting until they had almost disappeared, before wriggling out from his hiding space and running in the opposite direction.

He'd been running for less than a minute when he skidded to a stop at the edge of a steep hill. Ash gasped, his eyes sweeping over the scene below him. A vast, flat plain, rust-coloured but blackened in spots laid before him, stretching as far as the eye could see to his left and right. Dozens, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands of monsters, some like the ones he'd seen moments ago, some unimaginable conglomerations of limbs, claws and spines, galloped ran and slithered across the ground after screaming people. Bursts of red intermittently exploded across the field, like fireworks, where the creatures caught up to their terrified victims and ripped them to shreds, their blood seeping into the ground.

About a hundred yards forward was a huge wall. As smooth as the obsidian tower, it appeared to be hewn from one massive stone. Ash watched people, crying and begging and crawling on hands and knees, approach the one gate cut into the wall, pleading to escape the carnage. One of the beasts made of pure darkness, this one shaped vaguely like a more sinuous horse, raced across them, each hoof beat slicing through flesh and bone.

Another group gathered at the gate, this one clearly part of the attacking horde. They were let in with no delay.

"Great," Ash complained. "I'm in Hell, and my only choice is between waiting here to die and going in further. And I don't even think the second one's an option…"

Ash's eyes wandered over the seething, writhing mass of people and demons idly, not looking for anything in particular, when they suddenly fell on one form in particular. An idea took shape in Ash's mind, one that he immediately decided was completely insane. With a long-suffering sigh, he started up his chainsaw and carefully stepped forward.

His foot hit the loose rubble at the top of the hill and instantly slid out from under him. He switched his weight to his front foot, hopping forward a little to get his back foot on the hill. Crouching slightly to lower his center of gravity, he balanced in a barely-controlled slide.

The base of the hill brought Ash's feet to an abrupt stop, but not his forward momentum. His arm windmilled as he tried to regain control, the flailing of his legs quickly turning into a sprint. In front of him, a screaming woman had just tripped and fallen to the ground, where she raised her arm over her head in meager protection, cowering. Something the size of a rhino reared up to attack, huge legs covered with metallic-looking claws raking the air. Ash swung the chainsaw as he passed between them, lopping off one of the enormous paws. The creature tried to land on all fours but stumbled on its new stump. The woman picked up the fallen limb with renewed hope and swung the sharp claws at the beast.

A clump of five people, crowded together for the futile illusion of safety, ran across Ash's path. A swirling cloud of blackness and shadow raced after them, apparently pulled forward by human arms which reached out of the mass to claw the ground, ripping out fingernails in bloody splinters with the effort. Ash altered course just enough to stay out of its way, pulling out his shotgun as he did. Just as he passed behind the twisting shadow, he fired, blowing a hole clean through the center of it. Smoke puffed out in all directions, and the darkness lost much of its apparent mass as it dissipated.

Still not slowing, Ash zeroed in on what he'd noticed from the top of the hill, his target. His eyes narrowed as he close the rest of the distance, and he raised the chainsaw, holding it next to his head, pointing forward. When he was less than a yard away from his objective, a demon about the size and general shape of a human, although covered in bony spines and wearing a skull-like helmet, he punched forward. The chainsaw flew easily through the demon's neck, throwing black blood in all directions. The head fell forward and the body slumped to its knees as Ash skidded to a stop right behind it. As it fell, he saw a terrified pair of people, a man and a woman, staring at him, eyes wide.

"I wouldn't stand there gawking, if I were you," he told them, jumping over the body before stooping to grab the head. He pulled at the easiest place to grasp the helmet, what looked like the protruding upper jaw of a wolf-like animal. It didn't budge.

Ash examined the helmet. Although it was the colour of bone, yellowed with age, it was criss-crossed with red in a web of veins. "Don't tell me," Ash moaned as he realized it wasn't a helmet, but an actual part of the anatomy of the demon he'd just killed. "That's just perfect."

He placed the head gently on the ground, keeping the neck pointed up, and tried to hold it in place with one foot as he brought the chainsaw close. Keeping the tool on a low setting, he dipped it into the head. Blood and chunks flew everywhere as he ripped through the lower jaw.

There was a roar to Ash's left. Keeping his eye on the chainsaw, perilously close to damaging either his foot or the skull he'd had to fight for, he raised the shotgun, waited until the sound of claws scraping dirt was only a few feet away, and fired. There was a low whine in response, and Ash holstered the shotgun before stooping to pick up the skull again. He turned it over. Most of the flesh dripped out in uneven globs.

Ash turned the skull back over. A few pink, glistening bits of brain still clung to the inside. Wincing, he scraped the biggest pieces out with the back of his hand. After a deep breath, he put the skull on his head, trying to ignore the squishing sound it made and the feeling of something dripping down the back of his neck.

"Now for the easy part," he told himself sarcastically as he quickly loaded the shotgun.

Trying to appear unfazed by the bloodshed around him, Ash strode towards the gate in the wall. He approached it confidently. "Hey," he said casually to a large, fat demon with a head reminiscent of a bulldog scratching itself on the other side of the portcullis. "Wanna open up?"

The creature looked at him lazily. It sniffed the air in three deep huffs. Ash stood his ground, hoping the effluence oozing down his face was masking his scent. After a few seconds of the creature staring blankly at him, it lumbered unsteadily to its feet and plodded over to a level, which it threw aside with no effort. The gate quickly fell open.

"Thanks," Ash said, sauntering through.

The creature gave a short bark in response as Ash passed. For a moment Ash focused on the road ahead. Then it occurred to him that he still had no idea what he was doing.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," he said, turning to the demon guarding the door. As quickly as he could, he whipped the shotgun up, firing a burst of pellets into the demon's face. As it staggered back, shaking its head, trying to see through the blood it suddenly found in its eyes, Ash slashed forward, slicing the lever as close to the base as he could. "It's open!" he screamed back through the gate before he ran further inside the wall. Behind him people began to uncertainly enter the gate, first in straggled clumps, then pouring through en masse, as the demon frantically clawed at the lever to close the gate.


	16. Chapter 16

As the sounds of screaming and metal clashing on metal followed him, Ash didn't have time to wonder whether he was helping those he'd let through the gate, or using them as a distraction. He simply kept running, quickly entering a narrow corridor in what looked like the crumbling ruins of a castle, open to the sky.

The walls got nearer and nearer to each other as Ash progressed, until his shoulders barely fit through. The hall took a sudden left, then a right, before branching in three different directions. Ash took the path that seemed to keep him on the straightest course. Although he couldn't see the tower, the only landmark that seemed significant, over the high walls, he hoped he was still moving towards it. A few more branches in the corridors later, however, and he had no idea which was he was going.

The sounds of fighting behind him had now faded. Instead, Ash could hear scratching and skittering that blended together into an ambient noise that seemed to originate from everywhere. At another branch, this one leading off in eight different directions, he finally slowed and stopped.

"Perfect," he growled, shaking his head. "This is just perfect." He sunk to a crouch, putting his hand to his head. Hoping an idea would come to him, Ash listened, vigilant for any sounds that might herald an approach.

Then he heard a mournful groan.

Ash's head shot up. He looked around, but there was no movement. His ears perked, he waited to hear the noise again. After a minute, he sighed, tried to guess where it had come from, and started trudging forward.

He abruptly stopped when he heard the wail again. It seemed to confirm the direction he'd picked. "Hello?" he called, speeding forward.

He passed a hallway that led to his left as he continued forward. "Hello?" he called again.

This time there was a response, although it was still an agonized moan. It came from behind him. Ash pivoted and darted down the branch he'd just passed. The sounds of pain and misery were coming more frequently now, and growing in volume.

Finally, the corridor opened up into a small room, barely larger than a closet. Another groan echoed off the walls, coming from Ash's feet. He looked down. A man, gaunt and covered in wounds, was clasped in chains, held to the rough-hewn stone. His head was lowered, his face pointed directly at the dirt.

"Hey, uh," Ash started. "You ok?" he asked lamely.

Slowly, as if his head weighed a hundred pounds, he lifted his head to see Ash. His eyes blearily attempted to focus as Ash's widened in recognition. It was a face he wished he wasn't familiar with. He'd seen in what felt like thousands of times, first in news clippings, then on the Internet during the sleepless nights when he desperately tried to make his life make sense. Ash was sure that at this point he knew more about the man in front of him than anyone else alive. He'd read everything the man had ever done, said, or written, and knew every available detail of his biography by heart from reading it over and over.

"P-Professor Knowby?" he stammered, kneeling to eye-level. "Raymond Knowby?"

Knowby's eyes seemed to clear, but only slightly."That name…" he answered, his voice brittle and weak from lack of use. "It seems familiar."

"It should," Ash said. "It's your's."

There was a long moment of silence as Knowby processed this information, his gaze far off and searching. Finally he shook his head slowly. "Even if that's true, it's meaningless here."

"Just to double-check," Ash said, "Where is here, anyways?"

"You might call it Hell."

"That's what I figured," Ash nodded. He sighed, leaning back against the wall opposite Knowby. Running his hand over his salt-and-pepper hair, he regarded Knowby, thinking. He had no idea where he was going or how this place worked. Knowby was the one person who might be able to help. Unfortunately, he seemed out of it; he didn't even seem strong enough to move. There was a chance he was a necessary guide, but it was just as likely he was a liability. Ash didn't know if it was a good idea to free Knowby, but the rusty chains would be easy enough to break.

_Unless they're cursed or enchanted or magic or something_, Ash thought. It would be a mistake to assume everything was as it appeared.

On the other hand, the alternative was leaving Knowby behind. Ash knew it was crazy to feel guilty about that, considering he didn't even know if he could save himself, let alone help anyone else.

_Besides_, Ash reasoned, _None of this would have happened if it wasn't for him_.

"Is there a way to get out of here?" Ash finally asked, hoping to gauge the extent of Knowby's usefulness.

Knowby's head sank. "The gates of Hell can only be opened from the outside."

Ash groaned. His situation looked hopeless.

"I'm sorry," Knowby continued, explaining, "Only the living can compel the gate to open."

With a start, Ash froze. "What did you say?" he said slowly.

"The gates are guarded," Knowby started, "By a monstrous creature. Only it can open the gate, and only when commanded."

"So, what," Ash asked, "I just need to go ask nicely?"

"Well, no, not quite. First of all, you'd need to be alive…"

"Check."

"Second of all," Knowby continued, not seeming to hear Ash, "It's not a simple matter of asking. The words must come from the Necronomicon."

"Great," Ash replied. The last time he'd seen the pages of the Necronomicon, they'd been falling into the same portal he'd fallen through. He hadn't seen where they ended up. It was a long shot that they'd be somewhere he near the gate, or even somewhere he could find them. Of course, everything about an attempt to leave Hell would be a long shot. "Is there any other way to open the gate?"

"Supposedly defeating the gate's guard would grant you control," Knowby said uncertainly. "The Necronomicon also contains references to the willing sacrifice of a human being."

"Sounds cheerful," Ash muttered. "Are you sure about all this?"

Knowby's eyes almost seemed to clear for a moment. "All of this comes from fragments of half-translated wisdom from people who were largely using guess-work. Anyways, none of that matters," Knowby whispered, sitting back, "You'd never make it to the gate. You wouldn't even make it through the wall."

"The wall?" Ash repeated. He sighed. "Perfect. I started out outside, and now I gotta get back through?"

"Outside?" Knowby asked, puzzled. "We aren't outside the wall right now?"

Ash groaned. _Maybe this guy isn't the best source of information_, he thought. "Where, exactly, is the gate?" he finally asked, hoping for a lucid response.

"At the center of Hell," Knowby answered. "At the top of the tower."

Ash's eyes narrowed. "If I can get you there, would you still be able to read the Necronomicon?" he queried. _Assuming I can find some of the pages_, he added internally.

"I devoted my life to studying Kandarian culture," Knowby replied. "Of course I can still read it."

"Alright then," Ash said, standing. The chainsaw let out a loud whine that reverberated in the small space as he pulled the rip cord.

Knowby's eyes went wide. In his fear he looked more alert and aware than he had for their entire conversation. "What are you doing?" he asked, trying to shrink back further against the wall.

"Getting you out of here," Ash replied. He jabbed the chainsaw forward, into the rusted metal bracket holding Knowby's chains to the wall. Sparks rained down, and there was a clatter of metal on stone as the bracket shattered and fell to the ground.

With effort, Knowby stood. Shackles still encircled his wrists and ankles, the long, thick chains still hanging off them. With the weight of the metal draping him, as well as his weakness from years of imprisonment and torment, he could barely walk.

Ash grabbed a length of chain and held it taut. "Hold still," he told Knowby. There were more sparks as he removed a few feet of fetters. Within moments, only a few links hung from each manacle. Ash examined his handiwork. "That's the best I can do. Think you can walk?"

"I can try my best."


	17. Chapter 17

"What have we got on this thing?" James barked, staring up at the growing cloud, roiling with electricity, through powerful binoculars. He stood between two tanks, a few rows back from the ring of Jeeps that encircled the radio station. Around him, soldiers made a show of preparing, although they had no idea what for, and spent most of their time stealing glances up at the strange storm just above the radio antenna.

"Uh, nothing, sir," one of the soldiers responded when no one else would. At James irritated glare, he added, "We didn't exactly bring a lot of scientists. Sir."

"If you don't mind me saying, uh, sir," Jared interjected, "I'm pretty sure that happened when we read from the Necronomicon. It's what sucked everything in. Maybe it's like…" he thought for a moment.

"Like a portal or something!" Ashley blurted.

James sighed, ignoring them as he looked back up at the raging storm. "Alright," he said, resigned. "Get me Heidegger."

* * *

Ash didn't look back, but the din of dozens of footsteps, maybe even hundreds by now, told him he was still being followed. Knowby was still there, leading by half a pace as he knew the landscape and needed help when he occasionally stumbled, but Ash couldn't be sure who else was behind them. Some of them were probably from his entrance through the wall, those who'd made it through the slaughter when the denizens of Hell realized the wall was breached. Others had been found, like Knowby, chained to walls. Ash had released the first few, but now some of the ever-growing crowd behind him carried huge rocks to pound the chains apart.

At first Ash had grumbled about the group following him. The rising number of people made him more conspicuous than he could afford. After some time, however, he found that the added attention was mitigated by the fact that the crowd served as a distraction, a diversion that gave him time to fend off any attacks.

He tried to assuage his guilt in using these lost souls as lures by telling himself that they were already in Hell anyways, and he hadn't made their situation worse. It didn't work.

Despite everything though, the journey had been surprisingly easy. The demons seemed fairly content to toy with anyone who crossed their paths, and hadn't made any organized attempts to stop the group. As the tower loomed in front of them, and Ash noticed the beasts circling the base and the black forms circling the top, he tensed, knowing that his day was about to get worse.

One of the demons on the ground, about fifty yards away, stopped, its hunched back arching up so it could raise its head and sniff the air. Its long, thick forelimbs dug into the ground as its pig-like nostrils twitched. Suddenly it focused on Ash and bounded forward.

Ash braced himself, holding his chainsaw ready. As the demon closed in, he sliced up, easily taking off its head and part of its shoulder. As the two pieces of the demon fell to the ground in front of him, a roar called his attention to a second, identical creature a few feet behind. Ash stumbled back, trying to ready himself for the impact.

It never came.

A wave of people threw themselves onto the demon from behind Ash. One of its long arms lashed out, and several were thrown back as easily as droplets of water, but less than a moment later the beast was overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Ash couldn't see the demon under the pile of tearing, angry people, but he could see blood beginning to seep across the ground.

With a surge of hope as he realized he might be able to make it to the gate, Ash raced forward, towards the stairs leading to the tower's entrance.

* * *

Heidegger growled at Jared and Ashley as he sauntered over. Ashley gasped as she saw his eyes, his irises an inhuman yellow.

"There's something wrong with this guy," she whispered in Jared's ear.

"What was your first hint?" Jared asked. "That time he tried to kill us?"

With a frown, Ashley lightly hit Jared's arm. "Did Ash rub off on you?"

Jared smirked and shrugged.

"I'm serious though," Ashley insisted. "There's something wrong with his eyes."

"What would that mean?"

"I don't know," Ashley replied. "Maybe he's possessed?"

"Is that possible?" Jared raised an eyebrow.

"Any theories?" James asked flatly, obviously not expecting much. "Have you ever heard of anything like this before?"

For a moment, Heidegger gaped up at the storm, his lips moving like he was forming words although no sound came out. "We have to destroy it," he finally said.

"That seems like a smart idea," Ashley snorted.

"Ash," Jared chided her with a smirk.

"What makes you say that?" James asked uncertainly.

"This is obviously some kind of chemical attack," Heidegger explained. "This is the center of town. That," he continued, pointing to the storm, "Is probably the point of origin."

"Oh come on!" Ashley interjected, striding forward. "You've seen what's really happening here! You know this isn't some sort of drug!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Heidegger sniffed. "This is all consistent with a chemical attack."

"He's lying," Ashley maintained, turning to James. "He doesn't really believe what he's saying."

"He's not even making any sense," Jared jumped in. "Even if something was being dispersed, how would it float like that?"

"Regardless," James answered, turning to look at the storm, "We can't destroy it."

"What?!" Heidegger demanded, irate. "This is it! This is what's killing everyone!"

James pressed the button on his walkie-talkie, and it crackled as it transmitted. "There may be a chemical in the air," he said into it. "Gas masks must be worn at all times." There was a scramble throughout the troops as they located masks and pulled them over their faces. One of the soldiers beside James promptly passed him a mask. "Even if you're right," he said to Heidegger as he put on the mask, "We still don't know how this thing works. Destroying it could release everything inside. Or worse."

"Worse?" Heidegger repeated. "What could be worse? Everyone from this town is dead. Everyone who was sent a few hours ago is dead. We need to do something now!"

"No," James said firmly. "We need to make sure we know what we're doing."

Heidegger sputtered in anger before growling and storming away.

"I'm telling you," Ashley reiterated, "There's something seriously wrong with this guy."

* * *

After what felt like thousands of stairs later, Ash was gasping for breath. His entourage apparently didn't have the same physical constraints as the living, and kept pace easily. They were the first to come out of the blackness of the tower's interior, studded with the weakest of torches, onto the very top of the tower, bathed in red light. Ash staggered up after them and doubled over.

"Just…" he panted. "Just give me a minute."

Over his breathing he could hear sounds of confusion and distress. Whispers came from the crowd, doubts, fears and questions blending into a hushed din. Ash looked up to see what was wrong.

The top of the tower was as black and smooth as the outside. It wasn't rimmed with a wall or railing; instead the edges dropped off into nothingness except at the four corners, where black obelisks rose like miniature versions of the tower itself. In the center there was another obelisk, slightly taller than the rest. Unlike every other surface, the middle obelisk was covered in deep cuts that looked like they could be a language, though none that Ash had ever seen. Above, in the sky, easily visible against the red, was a twisting black cloud, like living smoke. Around them, large black winged demons circled, their heads stretching into long, fanged beaks.

There was no gate.

By now, some of Ash's followers were turning toward him, their fury at him for raising and then dashing their hopes visible on their faces. "Now, hold on a second," Ash held up his hand, backing away. He searched the crowd for Knowby, quickly spotting him. "This guy said this was the way out," he said, pointing at Knowby.

Every eye was suddenly turned to the professor. "It is," he said, "We just need to open it."

"Right," Ash replied, looking around, desperately scanning every inch of the stonework. "Uh," he finally continued, "I don't think any of the pages ended up here."

"You don't have the Necronomicon with you?" Knowby asked.

"Well… No," Ash answered. "It fell through the gate with me, so I thought it would probably land nearby."

Knowby blinked, his confusion from years of Hell melting away into offended disbelief. "That was your plan?" he asked, exasperated. "Climb up here and hope you found the pages?"

"Yeah, well," Ash grinned sheepishly, "Did you have a better one?"

The crowd of souls became angrier. It began to advance on Ash.

"Whoa, hold on now," he said, backing away. "I never told you assholes to follow me. That was your idea."

At that moment, there was a roar. All at once, every one of the flying demons seemed to notice the mass of people standing prone on the tower. Screeches filled the air as the dove towards them. Six talons, each three feet long and razor sharp, bit into the stone on one side of the tower, as something huge began pulling itself up.


	18. Chapter 18

Ashley and Jared shrugged as a soldier passed them gas masks and reluctantly put them on. They looked around at the conglomeration of vehicles and soldiers who had gone from curiously taking peeks at the sky to warily staring upwards. A hush had fallen over the group.

"These aren't doing anything, you know," Jared commented to James, pointing at her mask.

"Besides making us look badass," Ashley pointed out.

"Or like we're looking for our mummies," Jared added. James and Ashley both stared at him in response. "Never mind," he sighed.

James shook his head and went back to the uniformed officer he'd been talking to. "What are we asking for, sir?" the soldier said as he adjusted the radio, finding the strongest signal.

"Tell them we need the closest expert in chemical weapons," James answered brusquely, before uncertainly adding, "And maybe a meteorologist."

Jared and Ashley shared a glance and collective sigh. Suddenly, shouting from behind them drew their attention. They both whirled to see Heidegger climbing onto a tank.

"What the fuck is he doing?" Ashley muttered.

Jared's eyes focused on what Heidegger was carrying. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

* * *

There was another roar. Ash answered it with the chainsaw, which he swung around him, cleanly lopping off the wing of a flying demon that swooped low enough to reach. The demon shrieked, its ability to fly lost, but its momentum still carrying it forward. It hit the tower next to Ash and skidded. Two talons clamped into the stone, creating two shallow furrows. It stopped, just as it was about to slide over the edge, next to the six enormous claws, each as tall as it, which dug into the stone. The no-longer-flying demon rose, focusing its rage on Ash.

Cracks spread out from the huge talons in the obsidian rock as a mouth wide enough to swallow a Buick, lined with countless rows of jagged fangs, appeared from below. Two tentacles whipped out and snatched the one-winged demon from in front of it, and pulling it down into its gullet.

"Didn't you say something about defeating the gate's guardian?" Ash asked Knowby.

"I did," Knowby replied.

"Is that it?"

"I would think so."

"Great," Ash said. Behind him, his former followers streamed back down the stairs into the tower.

Another set of six talons slammed into the tower next to Ash as the thing guarding the gates of Hell kept hauling itself up. Its gaping mouth lurched forward. Ash drew his shotgun, looking for any point of weakness. Besides the mouth, there were no other hallmarks of a head, just a widening of its neck. The opening of its throat whipped back and forth like it was searching – although Ash had no idea how it could sense anything – flinging globs of saliva in all directions.

More of the thing's hulking frame appeared above the edge of the tower, a mass of lumpy flesh studded with outgrowths of bone. The rumbles of another growl emanated from deep within it. A tentacle unfurled from a pocket in the fleshy folds of the demon's mouth before, with lightning speed, shooting forward at Ash. He responded by throwing his chainsaw in front of his face, slicing the tip off the tendril.

The beast jerked back by less than an inch, reacting more from surprise than pain. It roared again, the deep bass of its call making the tower shudder. For a moment, Ash thought it also gave a high-pitched squeal. A cold shock of adrenaline froze his stomach as he realized – almost too late – that the sound came from behind him.

Ash spun around and leveled the shotgun. Its retort echoed through the sky as he blew a gaping hole in the chest of a demon in flight just over a foot away. He spun back just in time to see the huge maw lunging forward. He dove to his right, rolling inches under the rows of teeth. Jumping to his feet, he twisted around to shove the chainsaw into the flesh of the demon, ripping a long ragged gash into the skin.

The demon bounded aside, easily throwing its weight to the other side of the tower. From his place a few yards away, Ash could see that he'd only succeeded in cutting a slit in the side of its mouth. The creature seemed more irritated than hurt.

As the demon slowly turned to Ash, he backed away slowly, wondering how he could possibly win.

* * *

"Oh, Christ. Take him down!" James ordered, pointing at Heidegger.

With effort, Heidegger hefted a bazooka onto his shoulder. Staggering slightly, he tilted the weapon upwards, aiming at the sky. The heavy barrel wobbled as he slowly, carefully adjusted, lining up his shot. Everywhere around him, soldiers scrambled to do the same. Dozens of guns pointed directly at Heidegger, but none shot, hesitant to kill a fellow soldier.

"Take him down _now_!" James urged.

Heidegger braced himself to fire. His finger curled around the trigger, slowly squeezing it. Finally, there was a muzzle flash a few feet away from Heidegger, as a soldier fired a handgun. A splash of blood burst out of Heidegger's chest, the force blowing him off his feet. At once, his every muscle, including his finger, tensed.

The explosion of fire from the mouth of the bazooka dwarfed the flash from the handgun. The weapon, slightly skewed in Heidegger's wavering grip, ejected a long rocket, which left a trail of smoke as it shot obliquely upward, into the storm, as Heidegger teetered and fell from the tank. The orange fire from the end of the rocket was instantly obscured by the black clouds as the projectile quietly disappeared into the darkness.

"Is it too much to hope that that didn't do anything?" Jared asked.

"Probably," Ashley replied.

* * *

Ash ducked behind the obelisk in the centre of the tower. Huge talons scraped one side of the stone pillar, then the other, as he recoiled to avoid the strikes.

"I don't know if I can beat this thing!" Ash called to Knowby, who was cowering a few steps down from the roof.

"You could always see what a human sacrifice would do," Knowby suggested.

Ash swung his chainsaw, batting another attack away. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," he growled, before leaping out from behind the obelisk and plunging the power tool into the bony knuckle just above one talon. The large paw was snatched back before the creature had time to retract its claws, and a splinter of the appendage was left embedded in the stone.

The demon flung back its head and howled. Ash braced himself for another flurry of blows as the beast reared back, but before it could lunge forward again, fire exploded from the sky, like corona splashing out from the sun's surface. Even though the demon didn't have eyes, it looked up. Ash did the same.

* * *

At first it seemed as if the storm had accepted the missile without comment. The black clouds continued to roil as before, sporadically lit by flashes of lightning.

Heidegger's limp body fell to the pavement. His crumpled form didn't move. None of the soldiers took any notice, their eyes watching the sky.

After several long seconds, the storm seemed to fold in on itself, like footage of smoke from a fire played in reverse. The clouds fell inwards to a central point, which then widened. Ashley and Jared shared a glance, before reaching out to grab a nearby telephone pole.

* * *

Looking up, Ash saw flames shoot out of the storm and apparently burn it away, leaving behind a hole in the red sky. His eyes narrowed, not sure whether to believe what they were seeing. Above, embedded in the sky, a twisted metal shape hung down, almost reaching the stone obelisk in the center of the tower. With a flash of recognition, Ash realized it was the antenna atop the radio station.

The antenna extended upwards, into what remained of the roof of the radio station. Around the station were circles of Jeeps and a few tanks. Soldiers stood between the vehicles, as small as ants.

Ash chanced a quick glance at the demon guarding the gate. It looked as bewildered as he was at the sudden opening to the world of the living. Quickly but quietly, Ash ran to the obelisk, closing the distance to the spire in less than a second. He shoved a foot into one of the deeper markings and hopped up, grasping for a higher furrow with his hand. His other foot quickly found a hold, and he pulled himself a few feet closer to freedom.

Behind him, Knowby raised his head to see what was happening. "It's open," he whispered in shock, before yelling to the souls behind him, "It's open!"

With a heave, Ash climbed higher, grinning. He was more than halfway to his escape. The souls who had followed him to the tower swarmed up the stairs, flooding a wide circle around the obelisk. Eagerly, they all tried at once to clamber to the exit. Some successfully made it onto the pillar, while others were pulled off. A pile of scrambling, fighting people surrounded the spire just below Ash.

The shouts and screams of the melee finally drew the massive demon's attention from the opening above. It growled, stalking towards them.

* * *

The expected reversal of gravity didn't come. Slowly, hesitantly, Ashley and Jared relaxed their grips from the telephone pole and stepped forward, peering into the sky. The scene above them was chaotic, with what appeared to be a brutal brawl at the center.

Suddenly, dozens of black forms burst forth from the hole, as if from a hive of bees that had been disturbed. The dark shapes swirled and wove around each other, circling in the sky for a moment before the dove down, long claws reaching out.

* * *

Hearing the sounds of struggle below him, Ash glanced down just in time to see the giant forelimb of the gate's guardian swing at the obelisk, batting about six souls off the stonework. Their bodies fell, spiraling from the immeasurable height of the tower to the ground.

The beast let out another roar, rearing up before its gaping mouth fell on the swarm of people. Several disappeared with screams of terror, easily sucked down the throat of the demon. Ash looked up wistfully before sighing and hopping to the ground.

_What the fuck am I doing?_ he thought, as he revved the chainsaw again, preparing to fight.

"Hey!" he called to the demon. With a start, it turned to him, the puckering sphincter of its throat seeming to stare at him hungrily. "Why don't you try picking on someone who can kick your ass?"

Ash's taunt worked. The demon backed a few steps away from the obelisk. The scrabbling to reach the top became more intense, as people took the most advantage they could from the distraction. The enormous creature bounded towards Ash, and he leapt out of the way, swinging the chainsaw to leave a long gash in the side of the demon.

The demon let out a roar as it skidded to a halt and turned back to face Ash. Thinking quickly, Ash jogged the few steps that separated him from the edge of the tower, stopping at the very cusp of the building. He turned to face the demon.

"Come on!" he called to it.

There was another roar, and then the beast ran forward again, eager to devour Ash. Ash waited, watching the circle of jagged, uneven teeth grow larger and larger, until he could almost feel the breath of the demon, before he dodged out of the way again, brushing against one side of the mouth as he got out of the way.

The mouth tried to turn, to follow his movement. The rest of the demon's body followed, tilting towards Ash, as the monster slipped over the edge and disappeared.


	19. Chapter 19

This time, the soldiers didn't hesitate to fire. As the demons in the sky swooped down, the entire area lit up with muzzle flashes.

One of the creatures dove down towards Ashley and Jared, silent and unnoticed until it was a few yards away. With no time to run, Ashley screamed and threw her arms up over her head. Jared held her protectively, clasping her to his chest as he watched the winged creature close the distance between them.

As it was about to strike, the demon suddenly shot right, its body crumpling around the bullets which had ripped through its abdomen. Jared and Ashley turned to see James pointing an assault rifle just above them.

"Here!" he called, tossing the rifle at Jared. Another one followed less than a second later, flying towards Ashley. They both deftly caught the weapons and looked up, searching for targets.

* * *

Slowly, Ash leaned over the edge, scanning for the demon. A shock ran through him as he saw the ground below, empty. His eyes traced further up, and he finally saw the beast, halfway down but quickly climbing up.

"Alright people," he called, turning back towards the obelisk as he reloaded the shotgun before returning it to its holster. "You don't have much time!" he told the crowd, still struggling with itself. They didn't notice his words.

Just in front of Ash, the soul of a man shoved another aside, hopping on him to gain a leg up, before a third person grabbed his back and tried to pull him down. With a growl of frustration, Ash yanked the third man back, freeing the first to scale the obelisk. He reached down, helping one of those on the ground to his feet before giving him a boost. Someone close by tried to clamber over the man Ash had just helped, and Ash punched him in the face.

"Everyone, listen up!" Ash called. The group actually went silent. Ash wasn't sure if it was because they'd heard him, or because he'd just assaulted someone. "You don't have much time! You can all get out faster if you all work together!"

As if to demonstrate, Ash gave someone struggling to reach a handhold, giving them a chance to grab on. To his satisfaction, he saw the group begin to cooperate. With more organization and less fighting, the obelisk was soon coated in souls climbing quickly towards freedom.

"Ash?" he heard behind him. Ash's eyes went wide as he turned towards the familiar voice.

* * *

Jared and Ashley ran, weaving through the narrow spaces between the Jeeps. They kept low, keeping hidden as they made their way to the perimeter of the vehicles. Around them the air crackled with the sounds of gunfire, like deafening thunder that came from everywhere, punctuated by occasional screeches from the monsters that circled above.

The narrow passage ahead opened into the empty street. Ashley and Jared slowed as they approached the edge of the cars. Keeping in the shadows, they cautiously watched the open area. Everything was as still and deserted as it had been when they'd arrived. Except for the sounds of fighting behind them, it would have appeared to be a totally normal night.

"We can take cover in there," Ashley suggested, nodding at a restaurant down the block, its windows shattered. "I don't think we want to be out in the open with those things flying around."

"Do you think we can make it?" Jared asked.

"Yeah," Ashley nodded, before repeating, to reassure herself, "Yeah. It won't take that long. Right?"

Jared hesitated. "Right," he finally replied.

They tensed, ready to run. Ashley rose to push off and bolt towards the restaurant, but froze when a soldier burst out a few cars down. He sprinted forward, pumping his arms and legs wildly. His feet slapped against the ground, echoing against buildings and vehicles.

He made it five steps before one of the flying demons slammed into him, tackling him to the ground. Another soon followed, sinking long, thin claws into his calf. Seconds later, another fell on him. The first tried to take off, pulling the soldier's torso with it. The others stayed on the ground, dragging what they had claimed in either direction, as the soldier screamed in pain.

The three demons' struggle remained at a stalemate for several long seconds, until it suddenly burst apart with gushes of red. Blood stained the street as three large chunks of the soldier were carried away, only to be unceremoniously dropped to the pavement with wet splats a few feet away.

The road was again still for a moment.

"Maybe we should just stick to cover," Jared suggested.

* * *

"Linda?" Ash asked in shock.

Her hair was tangled and knotted, and her skin was blotted with dirt and sweat. Despite that, Linda looked the same as she had when they'd gone to the cabin in the woods. With a pang of long-buried grief, the memory of the last time he'd seen Linda, her severed head in a vise, surged to the forefront of Ash's mind. He tried to shake the image out of his mind, but when he did, a worse thought emerged. Linda had been here since he had last seen her.

_I've spent the last twenty years feeling sorry for myself, _Ash thought,_ but my life's gotta be a damn sight better than Hell._

Despite having had years thinking about what he would say to Linda if he could only see her again, Ash couldn't find a single word.

"Ash," Linda started, her eyes as disbelieving as his, "What are you doing here?" Her head tilted just a hair as she looked closer, spotting the flecks of white in Ash's hair. "How long has it been?" She glanced down and then back up, taking Ash in, before her eyes stopped dead on the chainsaw attached to Ash's arm. She gasped. "What happened to you?"

Ash shook his head. "Never mind that right now. You need to get out of here." He grabbed Linda's hand and pulled her to the obelisk. Clenching his teeth and ignoring the urge to climb out with her, Ash turned and briskly walked a few steps away, readying himself for the gate's guardian to come back.

Linda immediately whirled around, turning away from the spire. "I'm not leaving you," she declared.

"That thing's coming back," Ash replied, drawing his gun again. "I won't be able to hold it off for long."

"So come with me."

"I can't," Ash said, glancing at the obelisk, covered in human forms climbing to safety. Even more still waited their turn. "We'll be sitting ducks if I'm not distracting that thing." He turned his attention back to Linda. "You have to get out of here though. This might be your only chance."

Just then, five smooth, sharp talons, separated near the middle by one broken nail, splintered and bloody at the cuticle, slammed into the stone between Ash and Linda.

* * *

A roar filled the sky like thunder, coming from the portal to Hell. Streaks of glorious blue light shot out of the hole, fading a few feet away. Jared gulped. "What the hell's going on up there?"

"It's hell," Ashley replied, "What do you think is going on in there?"

Still crouching to remain hidden, they both went silent. Ahead of them was the open area that might lead to an escape, but would make them obvious targets. Behind them a battle between demons and soldiers raged. It was quiet where they were, and there was cover, but they could get noticed any time, especially as soldiers were plucked off the ground and torn to shreds. Soon there would be no one left. Then the demons would look closer and find them.

The roar above was answered by dozens – maybe hundreds – of shrieks, like a sky full of birds of prey. The pre-dawn dark-blue of the sky was blotted out as the sources of the sounds poured out of the portal.

"That's not good," Ashley remarked.

Jared was quiet, his eyes wide as he took everything in. Finally he said, "Let's go back in there."

"What? Why?" Ashley demanded.

"We can hide in a tank."

Ashley and Jared locked eyes for a moment before, in tandem, jumping up and running back towards the fray.

* * *

Linda's eyes went wide and her mouth gaped as rows upon rows of jagged fangs reappeared, slowly rising over the edge of the tower. Low growls rumbled throughout the creature's body, rattling through its throat with every breath, as it ponderously pulled itself up.

Ash looked from Linda to the demon and back. The demon was bringing itself closer and closer, but Linda had yet to move an inch, paralyzed with fear. After taking a few steps back for a running start, Ash raced forward, hurdling over the demon's long, thick arm as he blasted it in the mouth with his shotgun. The scattershot tore dozens of tiny holes in the musculature around the beast's throat, and it reared back in surprise. As Ash landed on the other side of the arm the claws shot upwards, raking the air he'd just passed through.

Not breaking stride, Ash grabbed Linda around the waist, pulling her backwards. "Come on!" he yelled, "Don't just stand there." Finally Linda snapped out of it and began running alongside Ash.

Behind them, the demon had managed to climb back on top of the tower. It paused, momentarily distracted by the remnants of the crowd around the obelisk and the splashes of blue light as souls leapt out of Hell, before it zeroed in on Ash and Linda. It let out another roar of anger and the tower shook as it galloped after them.


	20. Chapter 20

Three soldiers stood clustered together in a tight ring, their backs to each other. They all focused on the sky, letting sporadic bursts of bullets spray into the air. One of the demons dove, heading straight for them. As one, they concentrated fire on their attacker. The creature weaved through the air, avoiding the worst of the offense, but white-hot slugs still tore through its wings, shredding them into useless flaps of membrane that let the air whistle through them.

Its wings ruined, the dive turned into a fall, the demon's inertia still hurling it towards the soldiers despite their guns. Wounded, the demon crashed into the soldiers, its mass bringing them with it to the ground, its thrashing claws ripping into them and flinging blood and chunks of tissue.

A screech from behind Ashley made her spin. Still jogging backwards after Jared, she fired at an oblique angle. The sound of gunfire was answered with more inhuman shrieks, as the demon she'd shot fell out of the sky, slamming into the windshield of a Jeep next to her. It struggled to free itself, rending part of the roof of the Jeep. It managed to stand, and Ashley let fly another burst of gunfire directly in its face. She didn't stay to see the damage, turning back to follow Jared.

A few feet ahead of her, Jared ran full-tilt, holding his assault rifle out to the side with one arm. The muzzle flashed, and a demon flying alongside him dodged, its flight pattern random and chaotic to avoid the gunfire. The kickback from the rifle sent shudders up Jared's arm, and the spray of bullets pinged off of street lights, buried themselves in tires and shattered windshields, hitting everything except the demon. The force of the gun pushed Jared to the side, making him stumble, and Ashley caught his elbow as she passed, steadying him.

* * *

They crossed the last few steps separating them from the closest tank and clambered on top of it. Jared knelt by the hatch as Ashley stood, scanning the sky. He grasped the handle and yanked.

The hatch didn't budge.

Another demon flew lower, its circles tightening as it glanced furtively at them. Ashley fired, blowing its chest apart. "Are we in?" she demanded.

"I can't get it!" Jared replied, throwing his weight into pulling the hatch open. "It's jammed!"

Ashley sprayed more bullets into the air, breaking up a cluster of demons that looked like they were paying too much attention to what was happening on the tank. She glanced down at Jared as he kept struggling. With a huff of frustration, she ducked down and rapped against the hatch as hard as she could with her fist, knocking out 'Shave-and-a-haircut'.

Moments later, the hatch opened a slit. Two eyes appeared in the opening for a fraction of a second, making sure Ashley and Jared were human, before the hatch was thrown open.

"Get in!" the soldier inside the tank commanded.

* * *

The rumbling that resonated through the stone and up Ash's legs, each like a miniature earthquake, got stronger and stronger as Ash and Linda completed a circuit of the obelisk, no longer completely covered in people climbing to safety. Behind them the rattle of the demon's panting grew more urgent, and the stink of its breath wafted over them.

"You have to leave while you can," Ash gasped, sprinting. "I can take care of myself."

Beside him, Linda's strides were uneven from years of torture as she tried to keep up. Her features softened as she realized she was not helping Ash by staying. "Promise me you'll get out as soon as you can?" she pleaded.

"As soon as you're safe," Ash swore.

Linda nodded once before changing course, tightening her circle of the obelisk and then finding an empty spot and hopping on. She scaled the stonework, now only spotted with a thinning coat of humanity, the bulk of the crowd gone.

As soon as he'd confirmed for himself that Linda was well on her way to freedom, Ash whirled around to face the demon. He revved the chainsaw, swinging it wildly through the air in front of him. The beast skidded to a stop in its surprise, rearing up to avoid the spinning blades. It landed with a thump that nearly brought Ash to the ground, and for a moment he faltered.

Before the demon could take advantage and strike, a bright streak of fire flew out of the sky, burning itself deep into the creature's body. It staggered to the side, toppled by the blast. With effort, it stumbled to its feet, off-kilter and its attention focused on the sky.

Ash took his opportunity and lunged forward, plunging the chainsaw deep into the demon's body, just under the scorch mark from the missile that had wounded it. It threw its head up and roared, wrenching its neck to face Ash.

A long tentacle whipped out from deep within the demon's throat and wrapped itself around Ash's ankle. Ash quickly jerked the chainsaw out of the beast's belly and slammed it down into the appendage. There was a howl of pain from the demon as the tendril was nearly severed. A shudder ran along the tentacle, and in its agony it spasmed, flinging Ash high into the air. He sailed through the portal above, and suddenly gravity inverted, pulling him away from the gates of Hell. Thinking quickly, Ash reached out and grabbed the closest thing – the radio antenna – and hung on for dear life.

* * *

The hatch closed with a clank as Jared hopped off the ladder. He and Ashley looked around. The interior of the tank was cramped. It had barely enough room for the three soldiers who had already been inside; now that Ashley and Jared were there it was difficult to move. Two soldiers sat at the front of the tank, watching a console, while the soldier who had let them in had to stoop so his head wasn't hitting the ceiling.

Once the tank was closed, the soldiers ignored Ashley and Jared. Curious, they both edged forward, craning their necks until their heads brushed the roof, to get a view of the console. A grainy monitor with a crosshairs on it displayed the portal into Hell and the surrounding sky.

The view on the display moved down, putting the crosshairs squarely on the entrance to Hell, as one of the soldiers adjusted his shot. Ashley gasped as the display moved a bit to the right, bringing the radio antenna into focus. "That's Ash!" she blurted as she recognized the form dangling from the metal scaffold.

The soldiers continued to studiously ignore her, methodically lining up the shot.

"You can't shoot!" Ashley averred. "There's someone up there."

There was still no response.

Ashley raised her gun, pointing it at the head of one of the soldiers. "Goddamnit, you can't shoot!"

The fiddling with the controls stopped. The soldier slowly turned to face the barrel of the rifle aimed at his head. The man next to him froze, watching warily. Either from the heat of five bodies in an enclosed metal box or from fear, a drop of sweat rolled from his temple to his jaw line. No one moved for several long moments.

A sharp pain, followed by quick numbness, unexpectedly ran through Ashley's arm. The weight of the rifle left her loosened grip. She turned to her right to see the soldier who'd let them in, her rifle now in his hands.

"Don't fucking hit her!" Jared growled, leveling his rifle at the man and stepping back, keeping out of arm's reach.

"Fire," the soldier commanded.

"What?" Jared replied.

"Not you." The soldier narrowed his eyes and glanced at the guy manning the main gun. "He won't shoot. Go ahead and fire."

The soldier quickly nodded and turned back to the display.

* * *

Slowly, painfully, Ash managed to climb hand over hand, back up towards the portal. Just above him, he could see Linda doing the same, tears streaking her face as she hauled herself up another foot. Ash reached out his hand, stretching as far as he could.

"Linda!" he called out. "Grab my hand!"

Linda looked up, her hands clamped on either side of the black stonework. She shifted her weight to one hand, almost slipping, before she extended her shaking arm. Precariously, she pushed off with her feet, only gripping her footholds with the very tips of her toes.

Carefully, Ash brought his foot up another rung on the antenna, bringing him closer. The tips of his and Linda's fingers brushed as they nearly bridged the gap between two worlds. Contorting his shoulder, Ash gained another few inches. Linda wavered for a moment, and Ash's heart almost stopped as she nearly fell, before her palm slapped into his. He quickly closed his hand, squeezing Linda's, steadying her.

The corners of Linda's mouth curled up in a smile of relief as she let out a short laugh. Ash held on as tightly as he could and leaned back, letting his mass pull Linda. No longer having carrying her entire weight, she inched up along the obelisk, getting closer and closer to the top.

Suddenly, a boom echoed throughout the town. A ball of fire, like a meteor, streaked up from the ground towards the portal, coming within a foot of Ash, singing his clothes and shaking the radio antenna. Ash's grip briefly faltered, and he fell backwards.

Linda, lighter than Ash, was yanked up. She lost her grip on the obelisk and fell up into the portal. As her hand crossed the edge between Hell and Earth, it turned from solid flesh to ether. No longer holding on to Linda, Ash snatched his hand back to the antenna, recovering to again dangle from the metal.

Without a corporeal connection to Ash's weight, the gravity of Hell took over and Linda's flight reversed. She landed at the base of the obelisk with a thump and crumpled on the stone. From his place on the antenna, Ash could see the enormous demon approaching her unmoving body.

With a surge of effort, Ash scaled the radio antenna until he balanced unsteadily on top. Summoning all his strength, he leapt up into the portal.


	21. Chapter 21

Helpless, Ashley watched as Ash nearly fell to his death before fighting his way back into the hole in the sky. The display still infuriatingly swiveled as the soldiers prepared to fire again.

There was a thud and the tank shook. Everyone looked up. Black, bloody claws pierced the thick metal, ripping holes just above their heads. Another set of claws rammed into the side of the tank as the vehicle was shoved a few feet to the side. This was followed by a loud crackle, then a crunch.

"Oh…" one of the sitting soldiers said quietly. Ashley and Jared glanced at his monitor to see a twisted, torn tube of metal protruding from the bottom of the screen.

"Let me guess," Jared said, "That was the cannon."

"It's called the main gun," the soldier corrected him. "And yeah."

"Awesome," Jared nodded as more talons ripped into the tank from every direction, prying panels away.

* * *

A long tentacle, covered in spikes, experimentally approached Linda, before Ash landed heavily on his shoulder. The shotgun clattered away as Ash ungracefully rolled a few feet away. The tentacles shot back in surprise.

Ash leapt to his feet, facing the demon. "Come on!" he screamed, brandishing the chainsaw, returning the demon's roar with the power tool's whine.

The demon turned its attention from Linda to Ash. He hoped it was because it considered him a threat, although something told him it was because he offered a more enticing, moving target. Another tentacle shot out, and Ash lashed at it with the chainsaw, delivering a brutal gash that nearly severed the appendage. It flailed, throwing black ichor in Ash's face.

The ooze from the demon stinging his eyes, Ash drew he sleeve across his face, mopping the gore from his skin. While his view was obscured, another tentacle whipped forward, wrapping around Ash's body and upper legs. He tried to step out of it, but his tangled legs brought him to the ground. The sharp spines on the tentacles bit into his skin, and dark blood seeped into his clothes around the tendril.

Kicking and struggling, he brought up the chainsaw to slice through the tentacle. This time the demon saw it coming, and the other tentacle shot out, immobilizing the weapon. Still fighting, Ash was dragged slowly towards the demon's gaping maw.

His eyes wide, Ash scanned the area around him for anything that could help. The tower appeared deserted; everyone except he and Linda had escaped. As he slid another foot, his gaze fell upon the shotgun a short distance away. Groaning in pain, he flung his free arm out towards the weapon.

He came a hair short.

Ash dug his fingers into the stonework, trying desperately to pull against the demon. His fingernails screamed as they were nearly yanked from his cuticles. His fingertip had just touched the butt of the shotgun when he was dragged another foot back.

Gritting his teeth in anger and frustration, Ash kept reaching. He brought his foot up as high as he could, driving the spikes on the tentacle deeper into his thigh, before kicking down, bringing his heel into the base of the tentacle. Swallowing his pain, he kicked again, jabbing his foot into the tentacles as hard as he could. Its grip loosened only slightly, but it was enough for Ash to pull himself towards the shotgun and grab it.

He quickly aimed, looking down the barrel at the demon's throat. His eyes picked out each of the individual wounds, by now nothing more than small scabs, he'd inflicted on the beast's mouth, the result of one of his two shots.

Deciding the shotgun could do little else to the demon, Ash aimed lower, pointing the gun at the tentacle. A direct shot from the weapon would ravage the tendril nearly as much as the chainsaw, and might make it let go, freeing him.

He shifted, trying to get the best shot he could, and every place on his body gripped by the tentacle screamed in protest. More blood gushed out of him as the spines dug through muscles and scraped bones. Ash wasn't sure he'd be able to stand once the tentacle freed him, or even if he'd survive for more than a few minutes.

Finally, Ash sighed in defeat, remembering Knowby's words. _One human sacrifice_, he thought, slipping his thumb into the trigger guard and adjusting the shotgun so that its muzzle rested just under his chin, _Coming right up_.

Ash squeezed the trigger.

* * *

The metal shrieked as it was torn apart, and a huge chunk, several inches thick, was ripped away. A blast of cool pre-dawn air flooded the humid inside of the tank. If it weren't for the twisted, scaly creature tearing at the metal, the relief from the heat might have been welcome.

Seconds later, another panel on the other side of the vehicle was pried off, while a long gash was sliced through the front. As Ashley, Jared and the soldiers backed into a tight cluster, the exterior of the tank was quickly destroyed, soon resembling a moth-eaten piece of clothing more than a durable war machine.

All around the tank, more of the demons were swooping in, alighting on Jeeps and the street. Most of the Jeeps were now shells, like the tank, but empty of people. Besides the demons slowly accumulating like sinister birds perching on every branch of a tree, there was no movement, and the pavement was streaked with blood.

Gangly and awkward on land, but leaving nowhere to run, the creatures began to close in, their fang-lined beaks stretching to either side in obscene grins. The soldier who had disarmed Ashley stepped forward, letting out a blood-curdling war cry, before spraying the demons immediately in front of him with bullets.

Two of the demons were hit before they had time to react. The rest quickly took off, bursting out in every direction as if they'd been hit by a grenade rather than bullets. They flew a few yards up before veering back down to earth and converging on the soldier, his gun still raised. Their long, sharp claws sunk into him with no resistance, and his flesh was pulled apart as easily as clay.

Still holding his assault rifle, Jared grasped Ashley's wrist and bolted past the red pile of tissue and bone, through the opening in the circle left by the demons' attack. One of the demons on the periphery of the circle cawed like an enraged crow as they passed, alerting the rest to their getaway. As if it were nothing more than an irritating chore, the demons fell on the two remaining soldiers, quickly tearing them to pieces, before they gave chase.

Within moments the air behind Ashley and Jared was a black vortex of swooping, screeching creatures, like an unholy cyclone of claws and bat-like wings. Still keeping his eyes ahead as he sprinted, Jared held the rifle above his shoulder, pointing behind him as he fired. He screamed as the sound of gunfire deafened him.

The bullets sliced through the first few demons in the whirling cloud, their bodies falling back through the swarm, knocking some off course. Ashley and Jared's pursuers were slowed, but only slightly, and they were still catching up. The demons ducked and weaved, their flight patterns overlapping, as Ashley and Jared picked their way down the street, sometimes between cars, sometimes through the burnt out hulls of the vehicles.

They raced forward, heading for the bank, the one building that looked stable and secure. The shrieking behind them grew louder with every step. Soon the sounds of snapping jaws also filled their ears, although they were still a block away from their destination. Ashley glanced quickly at Jared, catching his eye, and knowing he was thinking the same thing: there was no way they could make it.

Suddenly, the sound of hoof beats, as loud as thunder, came from the distance, growing until it overwhelmed the screeching demons. A roar both Ashley and Jared recognized as a chainsaw, although louder and deeper than they had ever heard, ripped through the air. Ashley looked over her shoulder to see a knight, clad in black armor and riding a black horse, between them and the demons. The knight's arm swung through the air, bisecting several of the demons without a second thought. The shining metal at the end of the knight's arm whirled, spraying flecks of dark blood everywhere. She stopped and turned, staring.

"Ash?" she asked quietly.

Jared skidded to a stop behind her. "Come on! We have to get out of here!" he urged.

"I think that's Ash," Ashley repeated, just loud enough for Jared to hear. He looked where she was pointing to see the knight dispatching the rest of the demons as if it were the simplest task in the world.

When nothing was left but piles of twitching body parts, the knight's helmet turned a few degrees, just enough to see them and nod once. His horse reared up and galloped, its lower legs looking like black fog as it cantered into the air at a steep angle before disappearing into the portal, which collapsed and popped out of existence.

* * *

As Ash descended, he saw Linda where he'd left her, sitting on the black stonework and leaning against the obelisk, holding her head as she recovered. The only difference was the form next to her. Ash urged the horse – which had inexplicably appeared next to him at the same time as the armor – down to Linda's side, racing between her and whoever – or more likely whatever, given that this was Hell – was talking to her.

He glared down for a second before recognizing Professor Knowby. "You're still here?" he asked in surprise. "I figured you'd've jumped ship when you had your chance."

"Academic curiosity, I suppose," Knowby shrugged with a sheepish grin. "I studied legends for my entire life, and when they turned out to be true…" He shrugged again. "Seeing how it all played out was a little irresistible."

"If you say so," Ash rolled his eyes. "So, human sacrifice, huh?"

"I did warn you that I didn't know what it would do."

"I'm still not sure what it did," Ash replied.

"To be honest, neither am I," Knowby confessed.

"You're supposed to be the expert!" Ash groaned.

"Yes, in folklore and mythology," Knowby emphasized. "If you want an educated guess though, I think you're now in charge of the gateway to Hell."

"Uh huh, and to get out of this gig…" Ash prompted.

"No idea." At Ash's expression, a mix of equal parts irritation and fear, Knowby continued, "I half-remember a line of text about setting foot on Earth, but that may kill you or release you."

"Great."

From the ground, Linda moaned and stood. "Does that mean you're stuck here?" she asked.

"Unless you're willing to take the risk and find out what happens," Knowby suggested.

"Hey, Knowby," Ash interrupted, "Wanna give us some privacy?" With a thought, Ash opened the portal above.

"Ah," Knowby said, looking up, "I see." With effort, he began scaling the obelisk, heading for the light.

"I'm staying here with you," Linda stated as he disappeared.

"Baby," Ash started softly, "You can't. Who knows what'll happen. Maybe now that I'm in charge some of the things down here'll start gunning for me." He sighed. "I want you to be safe."

"But you could be here forever," Linda pleaded. "Literally. That guy said you might not even be able to leave."

"I know, but I'll try," Ash answered. "I'll try to find you. Eventually."

"Then why stay here for now?"

"You were here," Ash replied. "You don't deserve to be in Hell. I don't think anyone does. There's gotta still be innocent people here. I'll see if I can figure a way out, and I'll let out everyone I can in the meantime. I have to."

Linda looked deep into Ash's eyes, searching. Finally, she said, "Alright. I guess there's no other way."

"Not until I know a way out."

She nodded. "Promise you'll find me," she said. "Promise me."

"I'll find you." Ash reached down, wrapping his arm around Linda's waist before easily picking her up and setting her in front of him. She put her arms around his shoulders to hang on, and he urged the horse onward, carrying her up to the portal.

"I notice you made Knowby climb up here," Linda giggled.

"That asshole?" Ash asked. "Of course I did, this is all his fault." Ash embraced Linda before lifting her towards the gate. "Oh yeah, and if you happen to meet this chick named Sheila," Ash continued, "I was out of my mind with grief over you at the time."

"Wait, what?" Linda asked before disappearing. Ash closed the portal behind her.

* * *

Ashley leaned into Jared as he put his arm around her shoulder. They sat on the steps of the bank, which, only minutes ago, had seemed like their only refuge. Over the tops of caved in roofs and collapsed houses, the sky was turning pink. Along the edge of the horizon was a line of deep red light.

Any other day, Ashley would have thought it was a beautiful colour, but now it reminded her of blood and severed, twitching limbs. She looked away as the sun, a bright blob of red, peeked over the horizon. A tear slipped from her eye onto Jared's shirt.

"What do we even do now?" she asked, almost to herself.

"We live," Jared answered. "For everyone else."

* * *

Ash looked out over the red and black landscape. For what felt like the thousandth time he considered riding down from the tower and slaughtering every demon he came across. _I shouldn't have told Linda it was too dangerous_, he reflected. _The only danger is that I'll die of boredom_.

There was a shuffling behind him, and Ash wondered if it was a challenger, or another condemned soul who had heard Hell was now granting full pardons. He turned to see a human finish scaling the hundreds of steps before doubling over, gasping for breath.

"I gotta stop smoking," the soul panted. After a few more gasps he pulled himself up, shaking the mop of shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes. His eyes widened as he recognized Ash. "Seriously?" Dylan demanded. "I gotta get _you_ to let me outta Hell?"

"Yeah," Ash replied, a grin slowly spreading across his face. "What's it worth to you?"

THE END

* * *

Author's note: there's definitely a clunky infodump there, and it feels a little out of character for Ash to stick around freeing people, but he seems to do the right thing in the end usually…

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this half as much as I enjoyed writing it, cuz I enjoyed the hell out of writing this (heh, no pun intended). If you liked it, or if you hated it, or really if you had any opinion, feel free to leave a review or message me or whatever. I wanna know what I'm doing right and (especially) what I'm doing wrong.

If you really enjoyed it, you can check out my other fics, or you can check out my story that I actually convinced someone to pay me for at www dot tinyurl dot com slash ApproachingOne, or check out my piece on Bioshock Infinite on OverThinkingIt dot com, which just got published today (or at least the same day this chapter was posted). If you really, really enjoyed it, you can also follow me on twitter by looking for SeaLenz. Yeah, I know, I'm shameless. What can I say, I'm kinda sorta trying to build a writing career over here :P


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